Darragh O'Brien (Dublin North, Fianna Fail)

It did. It spent over a month doing so. I did not have an opportunity to interrupt the Deputy yet.

As part of the framework agreed in the discussions, the social partners and the Government were at one in agreeing that €2 billion in additional savings were required this year. That is a fact.

What is required to deal with the €18 billion hole in our public finances is urgent and decisive action. We could wait no longer to bring about these changes for the good of the country and to ensure that these measures form a part of stabilising our public finances. Even the Labour Party, which has produced no coherent plan on how it would deal with the economic crisis——

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