Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

I must beg the Chair's indulgence as the Minister did not answer either of the questions I asked him. He proceeded to cite inept measures the Government adopted in the past, as if this would in some way demonstrate it has been decisive. The truth is a flimsy document was submitted to the European Commission, we have no forecast of what the Government believes it will collect under any tax head in the next year, we have no monthly forecast of what it expects to collect each month, and we do not know its view on what will happen if we do not meet the borrowing target of €20 billion, if that. Goodbody forecasts the requirement will be at least €2 billion over that.

What will happen if it is €2 billion over? Will the Minister take additional measures? He did not answer that question. How does the Minister expect people to make decisions if they do not know the direction of his thinking on key variables that will affect the climate for making decisions? We need a five-year programme that has credibility. The Minister has not delivered that.

Whoever described the plan as "unclear", "unconvincing" and "underdeveloped" got it right, even if it was someone in Timbuktu. People are saying the same thing on the streets. People are losing jobs because there is no leadership from the Minister, his Department or the Government.

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