Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I know the Deputy would like to rule by decree but it is a matter of democracy. I put the challenge back to the Deputy. It is always great to say: "You do something." I am asking the Deputy to do something. We put in place the capacity for committees to examine budgets. That is what happens in the rest of Europe. We published the review of expenditure so that all the policy options were available. I wrote to the chair of every line committee, in education, health, etc., to call in the Minister and go through all the expenditure options and have a real debate, and to call in civil society representatives if they wished. That is what Parliament should be doing. Will the Deputy give up the line of "someone else should do something" and take up the initiative himself?

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