Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

I am simply trying to get clarity on what exactly the Government has decided. I understand what the Taoiseach has said. Cuts of €440 million will be made between now and the end of 2008 and cuts of €1 billion, or €1.44 billion to be exact, will be made in 2009. From that figure will be taken €250 million for the payroll reduction which will leave cuts of €1.2 billion, the details of which we have not got. That is the first problem. We have some of the details, the decision on ministerial pay increases, a review of tribunal costs and various bits and pieces of information. Information has begun to be leaked about the postponement of the Fair Deal scheme and all of that, but we do not have the detail of where the €1.2 billion cuts will bite between now and the end of 2009. That is problem one and we need an answer to that.

Second, the Taoiseach has said that this process will be revisited a second time in 2009. Therefore, it is clear this morning that the round of €1.4 billion cuts is the opening shot and round two is to come in 2009 or perhaps in the context of the Estimates and budget. Where will the Taoiseach secure cuts of €1.2 billion, outside of the payroll reductions, between now and the end of 2009? They can only come from cutting jobs, services or increasing taxes or charges or whatever.

The Taoiseach also needs to tell us exactly what is in his mind for round two. Are the cuts of €1.4 billion announced yesterday simply the opening shot of a two or three phase round of cuts in services and expenditure that the Government has in mind over the course of the next 15 months?

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