Michael Noonan (Limerick East, Fine Gael)

I would have thought that once Brussels requires budgetary profiles for the next four budgets that the first step would be to set the targets and then fill in the profiles to achieve those targets. Is the Minister saying he does not know what the targets are but that his Department is working on the profiles? If that is the answer, perhaps he will tell us the level of detail Brussels expects on the profiles. Will it accept global figures or will each expenditure cut have to be underpinned by a policy decision? Will the tax increases have to be nominated with an indication of annual yield?

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