Eugene Regan (Fine Gael)

I will be brief. The first time the European Commission issued a warning to the Government was back in 2001 with regard to the budget of that year when Charlie McCreevy was Minister for Finance. Again we got into a huff. The Commission told us then that the spending of the Government, despite the surplus in our public finances, was unsustainable and again we rejected that because we knew better. We should not be so sensitive when Standard & Poor's gives the rating which is reflected in the market and draws a fairly logical conclusion from it.

It is the refrain not only of Senator Terry Leyden but also of the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance and various Ministers, that when they are criticised about their economic management of this economy, they say, "Well, what would you do? What are your proposals? You have no proposals." The Opposition has come up with proposals over the past year, starting last July when Deputy Richard Bruton and Fine Gael came up with the programme for recovery through reform.