Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

I thank Deputies Noonan and Burton for their sympathies.

My Department did not get its forecast wrong in last year's budget. Its forecast for growth this year has been substantially correct to date and borne out by events. What has caused our current fiscal difficulties has been a marked deterioration in the general international climate in the years ahead. The difficulty in the current fiscal position-----

See this speech in context