Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

That was an amazing reply. We have been told that the Taoiseach and the Government have been preoccupied over recent weeks with the state of the public finances. We have heard about all kinds of meetings, such as day-long and two-day Cabinet meetings, at which the state of the public finances has been considered. I asked the Taoiseach two simple questions, but he was unable to reply to either of them. The Government is examining the public finances at a time when the biggest economic problem we face is the loss of jobs. In such economic circumstances, I am utterly astonished that the Taoiseach — the Head of Government — did not give the House a ballpark figure for the total cost to the Exchequer of rising unemployment.

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