Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

Let us be fair, Deputy Costello. This situation arose in very extraordinary circumstances. Decisions had to be taken and legislation was brought before the House. The Minister for Finance was as expansive as he could be in explaining the reasoning behind it and what we were trying to achieve. The legislation allowed people to discuss how this would work in practice. The UK Chancellor of the Exchequer came forward with his response this morning. He stated that it would take him some time to provide his Parliament with all the necessary details. This is not a simple area.

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