Eugene Regan (Fine Gael)

The Government created the quangos it is now trying to amalgamate and the Government reduced taxes but is now imposing the income levy on gross level. The Government is correcting its mistakes, the Leader might agree with me on that.

Whether speaking about the budget, the world financial meltdown or the economic recession, the elephant in the room is the Lisbon treaty. Discussions in the European Council and comments by MEPs, including Mr. Méndez de Vigo in The Irish Times, speak strongly about the difficulties the rejection has caused for the European Parliament. Mr. Méndez de Vigo states: "To me it is shocking that a government that held a referendum and failed is still in office. A government that puts a question to a referendum and loses has to resign: that's democracy".