Dan Boyle (Green Party)

The House will have an opportunity tomorrow to debate the statement by the Minister for Finance in the other House on the ultimate cost of the banking crisis. It will be an important debate because it will answer some of the questions posed this afternoon by Senator Fitzgerald. The budgetary outlook, as outlined in the monthly Exchequer figures, has been more or less on track with regard to the expenditure and taxation that was forecast in the budget for 2009. The banking figures undoubtedly are the new difference between what was anticipated then and what must be dealt with now.