Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

It is open to any Member of this House, including members of Deputy Gilmore's party, who have taken up the opportunity, to speak to the Minister for Finance at any time and on any issue, diaries allowing. That is not a problem. It is called democracy. People can make whatever case they wish. At the end of the day, the Government has a responsibility to bring forward a budget which will meet our strategy of bringing our deficit down to 3% of GDP by 2014. Everyone in the House has priorities and issues they would like to discuss with the Government. The Government, and the Ministers who have line responsibility, will make the decisions in regard to these matters.

It is wrong to seek to convey the impression that this is anything other than the normal representations that people make in the normal way. They are based on political understandings, which have meant that those Deputies have supported the Government consistently over the period.

We have an overall job to do and a limited amount of resources with which to do it. We must make our decisions accordingly. The Government, the Opposition and individual Members of the House will make their decisions in regard to the budget when it is issued. We will deal with them on that basis.

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