Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister knows that is not the case. Every party on this side of the House has produced its pre-budget alternatives, albeit in a vacuum, relying on what we read in the newspapers as to where the Government is heading and the amount of funding available. We do not get adequate information.

The Government has made matters worse over the past two years. Prior to coming into office, the draft Estimates dealing with taxation measures were published in advance of the Budget Statement. People could see from this how much tax was required on budget day. The Government, since coming into office, has published both of these on the one day. While I accept it is earlier in the year because of the European semester commitment, publishing them on the one day does not allow separate scrutiny as happened before this Government came into office.

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