Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Noel Ahern, to the House. While I did not intend to have a slagging match with Senator Boyle, he continually trots out the line that newer Members of the House do not understand economics. This is not the case.

The figures produced by my party show that the Exchequer balance of €2.3 billion in 2006 has become a deficit. When one sees overcrowding in our hospitals, the lack of balanced regional development and chaos in the education system, one questions the Government's economic programme and the country's competitiveness.

I will take no lectures from Senator Boyle about my party's role in government.