Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

We are now two days away from the publication of the Exchequer returns for the first quarter of the year. We were surprised that, for the February returns, the Taoiseach and the Government were not watching the trends. Is the Taoiseach examining the trends for the outturn for March? Last Thursday, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Lenihan, told the Opposition finance spokespersons that he expected tax receipts to amount to €34 billion. When the Taoiseach appeared on RTE on Sunday night, he referred to returning to the figures of 2002 and 2003. The tax receipts for 2003 were €32 billion. Did we lose €2 billion over four days? It seems an awful lot of money to lose over four days. With respect, is this not one of the problems for the ratings agencies? This Government keeps chopping and changing the figures. There is grave uncertainty about what it is doing about the banks.

What is the target for the general Government deficit? The Taoiseach said repeatedly that it was 9.5% but now says that the target for the structural deficit appeared to be 8%. The Taoiseach will recall that the Minister for Agriculture and Food referred to €6 billion, while others in Government talked about €4.5 billion. Uncertainty in business is the hardest thing to price. The continued uncertainty of the Taoiseach and his Government is partly what is driving the rating agencies to take such a negative view of Ireland. Has the Taoiseach reached a view on what he is seeking to address in terms of the general Government deficit next Tuesday? Is it 8% or is it €4.5 billion? How much of it will be recovered by way of tax increases and how much will be recovered through expenditure cuts? Has the Taoiseach decided on these figures yet?

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