Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

The 2007 negotiations in which I was involved related to policy matters in regard to the formation of this Government. On the question of the costs of Government, which is a legitimate issue, my view is that we need to reduce them. One such way of doing so is through reductions in personnel. Another way of doing so would be to reduce the cost of government itself. I believe that is the best way forward. There is a great deal of activity in this regard. We need to achieve more in those areas if we are to get the savings we want.

See this speech in context