The first thing that should be done in the current circumstances is to stop digging. There is no doubt that taking money out of the economy will inevitably depress further the economy and prolong any depression. I use the word "depression" in a very loose fashion because the Minister would say that since there is no negative growth we are not in a depression, but we are clearly in a slowdown that is drastic compared to recent years. The turnaround in the economy, particularly the public finances, in the last two years must be seen a number of times to be believed. It is only two years since we had a budget surplus of €3,178 million. This year we are on target for a deficit of €1 billion, a turnabout of €4.25 billion in just two years. It is difficult to understand how this has happened and the Government has fallen far short of a sensible explanation.