Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

My answer to Deputy Gilmore is that there is no strategy that is not without risk. No one can say this with certainty but I want to be clear. First, we are not doing this in an effort to convince markets, we are doing it because it is imperative that we reduce the gap between what we spend and what we bring in. That is important for the country. It is important for sustainable policies going forward. It is also important as a means of generating growth because we have seen from the policies we implemented, which were opposed by the Opposition and which it is entitled to do, that they have brought us from a contraction in the economy of minus 10% last year to stabilisation this year. We must move into a growth path over the next number of years. It is true that the consolidation of public finances is necessary. It has to be done.

If the Deputy's view is that what we are doing has not generated sufficient confidence, I do not know how €4.5 billion would generate more confidence.

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