Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

It is not a question of being a cosy arrangement, it is a question of being part of how a Government operates and how it intends to discharge its responsibilities in the circumstances in which we find ourselves.

It is hard to give a coherent answer to Deputy Reilly because his finance spokesman said we should have cut €5 billion more in our budgetary strategy.

See this speech in context