Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

It is a farce and it gives the lie to the notion that in most cases, the Opposition wants to do anything other than make political hay out of this economic crisis. Fine, if that is what they want to do, do it but please be honest enough to admit it.

In the last year, the Government introduced a fiscal correction of over €8 billion, that is, approximately 5% of GDP. No other country in Europe has been able to achieve that quantum of savings. It has damaged us politically but it has been a powerful start to our journey on the road to economic recovery.

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