Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

I withdraw the imputation against any individual as I do not want it to distract from the point I am making, which is that for two years the Ministers over there, including Minister Hanafin, in whose mouth butter would not melt, told us that the bankers arrived at the gates of Government Buildings after the markets closed on Monday and the two Brians were railroaded into the decision that was made. Now we have the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy John Gormley, telling us the decision was made the previous day at a Cabinet meeting. One can call that "untruths", "misleading the House" or whatever one likes, but it is what happened.

The result - this is why there is grave concern about what has happened - is that what has happened has put the successor Government, whatever its composition, into a straitjacket. For example, if one looks at the framing of the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No. 2) Bill which is to be taken tomorrow, it makes this quite plain in its citations. The Government is bound by the agreement entered into with the EU, IMF and the European Financial Stability Facility, just like its successors will be bound by it notwithstanding the fact that it did not have the guts to bring it before the House for a vote of approval.

As the limited time left to me does not permit me to speak about the treatment of carers and widows, I will confine my remarks to the Taoiseach's criticism and misrepresentation of the Labour Party's position on income tax. In misrepresenting our position, he conveniently forgot to tell the House that our income tax proposals would have cost an additional €870 million in full year. The Government's proposals will cost €1.2 billion in a full year.

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