Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

Having listened for two days to the helpful views expressed in this debate by all sides and given that budget day is only four or five weeks from now, will the Minister give a clear idea of what the Government will propose in terms of front-loading in the forthcoming budget? In the context of the Hallowe'en horror that is the savings announced for the next four years, will the Minister be more transparent than the Taoiseach has been about how the €15 billion figure was reached? Many decisions will emanate from the change in the figure.

Does the Government have a view regarding the threat from the French-German alliance to introduce a new treaty to impose penalties for breaches of the Stability and Growth Pact? Is the Minister aware that Germany and France breached the pact in the early 2000s and action was not taken to penalise them?

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