John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Thank you, Chairman. Good afternoon, Mr. Cowen. I only have ten minutes, so I'll be as brief as I can and I'd ask you, if you can too, to be brief. Your predecessor as finance Minister, Mr. McCreevy, was here yesterday and, in describing his own period as Finance Minister, he said: "...we were most responsible than any other Government in the history of the State". Briefly, how would you characterise your own time as Minister for Finance?