John Gerard Hanafin (Fianna Fail)

I support the call for the Leader to make known the view of the House that the death penalty is not acceptable, even for the most heinous crimes. The state must be seen, in whatever circumstances, to act in a proper manner. Life is sacred, even in cases where the most heinous acts have been committed.

On another matter, I ask that we vary the debate on the pre-budget statements this year. It is clear, having considered the budget, that there will be certain cuts. A Minister only has so much room to manoeuvre. It seems that in every obvious case where the cuts will be made the leader of the Opposition says, "We will not make that cut." To ensure the public does not become too cynical about politics, could we have an opportunity in the pre-budget statements for the Opposition to outline where it would make the cuts? Perhaps the Leader would consider an open-ended debate in order that, if the Opposition wanted to go through the night explaining where and how they would make the cuts, they would have an opportunity to do so.