Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

As I made clear yesterday, there is no question that the characterisation of clinging to office is my motivation. That is not the case. My sole motivation is to ensure that a four year plan is published, as agreed with the people with whom we are dealing, and that a budget is put to the House and passed. The Minister for Finance has agreed a timeline for doing so with the Commissioner, Mr. Olli Rehn. The Commissioner made it clear again today that while it is a matter for this House to decide when it does its budget, he does not want the process to drift into the new year. I have explained that it is very important, in terms of meeting fiscal targets and getting full year effects of the plans we have in place, that we proceed with the budget on the day we have set out. We want to do that properly and appropriately. The timeline was agreed with the Commissioner when he came here to speak to the Minister for Finance. The Government very much agrees that the best statement of confidence for this country is to pass the budget. It is very important that this happens.

While I do not wish to go over again some of the issues Deputy Kenny raised, unfortunately it is becoming something of an argument in terms of the political charge that has been made. I want to make the position clear. Last weekend, I refuted specific reports that were put to me and which were untrue at the time. The first of these was the report that we had applied to join a facility. I felt it was very important to confirm that this was not the case. There were perhaps interests or people who felt that Ireland should make such an application immediately but I was very anxious to ensure that I represented the taxpayers and people of this country and that we made sure what would be the parameters of any discussion.

In relation to the technical discussions that were taking place in preparation for the meeting on Tuesday night, we wanted to make sure that we were made aware of whatever concerns were being expressed and that our Minister attending the discussions could deal with them. The political decision that was made on Tuesday night was to have a short, focused discussion with us in Dublin. As Deputy Kenny is aware, this has moved along quickly.

We must always confirm to each other that it is not the intention of any Government at any time to do anything other than represent the people of our country to the greatest extent possible. I was simply responding truthfully to those specific reports, which were untrue at the time.

We made a formal application on Sunday, having had the opportunity to set some parameters for the discussions, including as the Deputy noted, the importance of the 12.5% corporation tax rate as a cornerstone of our industrial policy. It is important that people are clear in relation to some of these things - not specifically or uniquely about that matter but generally as we were proceeding with this issue.

My second point is that it was unusual that a Government which had been pre-funded until July would have to consider applying for this facility, as we decided to do on Sunday. It is clear, however, given the abnormality in the market situation and the perception or view of the G7 and of our EU partners and others, that it was important in terms of any instability in the euro area generally that we consider this matter on that basis. We were prepared to do so because we are anxious to meet our international obligations. However, we must also protect our own interests in the best way possible. That is what I want to say on that matter.

There is no intention or motivation on my part or on the part of anyone in the Government to mislead anybody. While our room for manoeuvre was constrained or limited, what we were trying to do was to ensure we were not bounced into a situation. We looked at the situation calmly, worked with colleagues, listened to concerns and made sure the parameters of the decisions we were about to take were consistent with what was best for the country in the circumstances.

In relation to the other matter the Deputy raises, yesterday evening I set out clearly in a statement what are the Government's intentions. A statement of confidence would be to pass the budget. We will publish our four year plan, as we stated we would do, and submit it to the European Commission. We will then bring forward whatever legislative enactments are necessary. I do not wish to anticipate what these will be because some of them are budgetary matters but we will deal with these matters as promptly as possible to bring certainty to the situation for the financial year 2011.

I reiterate what I made clear in my statement yesterday, namely, that there will be an opportunity for us to go to the country and have the country make a decision as to who should have a mandate to continue with the challenging work that faces the country in the years ahead. However, the immediate priority - I know there are some who perhaps genuinely believe we should have an election at this time - is to pass the budget as we have said we will do. Having set out the timeline for doing so, we need to proceed with it. A €6 billion correction has to be brought forward. That is the context and basis on which important discussions are ongoing regarding what will be the terms and conditions of the facility. We need to continue to do this in as focused and calm a manner as possible.

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