Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

On every occasion that it has been questioned so far, that confidence was available to me and I am confident it remains available to me.

There is another point to make in regard to the internal party matter that was resolved yesterday. If the Deputies are suggesting that I do not enjoy the confidence of my own party then that would suggest that democratic decision-making is something they do not understand, which I am sure is not true. Deputy Gilmore became leader of his party through a democratic process - I do not know whether it was a unanimous endorsement. If it was, fair enough. There was a contest prior to that when Deputy Quinn defeated Deputy Howlin. If I recall correctly, Deputy Quinn enjoyed-----

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