Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

We are doing so, whether it is by acting on a new pensions framework to accommodate the new reality, better longer-term planning, consideration of the fiscal policy framework or issues pertaining to banking. These are valid points on their own but we must have an intelligent debate on them. There is too much black and white argument, as if it is all right on one side and all wrong on the other. People are far more intelligent and we should give them a little more credit for the discernment they have about the complexity of some of these issues.

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