John Paul Phelan (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Mansergh, to the House. I did not hear his speech earlier, although I read parts of it. As previous speakers have said, I agree with much of what is contained therein, although there are a couple of points I will make about the Government's announcement earlier this week. I do not want to be discordant at the start but I must comment on the remarks with which Senator Butler concluded. I did not hear what Senator Twomey said this morning but I know that Fine Gael has put out many ideas and plans for reforming public expenditure, including changes we deemed suitable and appropriate in terms of the public finances. There has certainly been no lack of opinions or plans from the Opposition. From the Government side, until very recently, we had met a stonewall response. There was very much an attitude that it was going to do things its own way, as expressed in the words of the Taoiseach in the other House about ten days ago. That attitude has changed slightly, and I welcome the fact that there seems to be more willingness to listen to what those on other sides of the House have to say on these issues.

The announcements earlier in the week by the Taoiseach were a step in the right direction. I would have announced things differently had I been in his position——