Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I explained that in previous years, the budget was on a Wednesday and that allowed for the normal Wednesday morning business and for the budget to be taken after Question Time at 3.45 p.m. The budget will be earlier this year. The sitting will commence at 2.30 p.m. and will start with the statements from the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform followed by statements from the Opposition spokespersons on finance and public expenditure and reform. The period of time for the debate on Tuesday will be longer than has been the case in previous years. We are also providing for a full day's debate on the budget on Wednesday. Given that the budget will be in mid-October this year, there will be a much longer period of time for consideration of budget issues in its aftermath. By any standards, the amount of time being provided-----

See this speech in context