Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

This year we can be sure that we have such a challenging environment that the prospect of tax reform in the first budget is not on the agenda. However, we also want to ensure we keep taxes on labour and capital low in order that we can continue to reward risk and those who are working and ensure people maintain their standard of living. That is not rocket science. I will not have it suggested that we made commitments without any contextual background or without being straight and clear from day one. Our commitments were more conservative than those made by the prospective Opposition at the time.

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