Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

The Minister and Department of Finance have been available to Opposition parties that have any requirement to have proposals costed. There has been unprecedented access to information and briefing in advance of this budget. At the start of the month, officials of the Department, at the request of the Minister, gave Opposition spokespeople a thorough briefing of the broad budgetary parameters. The Minister has also made the Department available to the Opposition for confidential costings of proposals. I do not know the extent to which parties have taken up that facility because it is confidential, but this kind of facility has never been offered to an Opposition outside of election time.

Deputies Burton and Gilmore have sought information on the numbers on which the budget will be based. The Cabinet is deliberating on those and will make its judgment based on advice about their economic impact in the coming days. It is for Government to come to an informed decision on these matters and to announce them at budget time. It is my understanding that officials continue to be available to the Opposition for further briefings, subject to the requirement to maintain Cabinet confidentiality.

It is the responsibility of the Government to draw up the budget but we have done everything possible to ensure the Opposition has the information it requires to make constructive suggestions and constructive criticism. There is a pre-budget debate in the House today and tomorrow and the Government is open to considering all constructive proposals to get us through this economic crisis.

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