Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

The Deputy asked a number of questions. I thank him for his good wishes. I wish to put one suggestion to bed immediately. Neither naivety nor choreography led to my use of the phraseology I used when speaking about the 0.7% target during an interview with RTE on 5 October last. I said, based on my experience of financial and management issues when I was working in the private sector, that when one is trying to achieve a target, one must examine realistically the figures that underpin it.

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