Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I have just explained to the Deputy that those figures from the Commission come up on a no policy change basis. That forecast does not take into account the commitment to restore the current budget to balance which was included in our budgetary arithmetic. That is the normal procedure; we outlined the three-year position in the multi-annual cycle budgets brought forward in the House for the past four or five years. The Commission does not do that; it is simply giving a no policy change position. The Government has outlined its position on that situation. There is no problem here regarding what the Commission is saying and what we are saying.

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