Dan Boyle (Green Party)

On the issue of the clarity that has been given about the €15 billion, I welcome the statements by Senators. We will have an opportunity to debate it in greater detail in the House tomorrow. However, it is important that there is appropriate honesty during the debate. If we do not deal with the €15 billion adjustment over a four year period, if we do not have a four year strategy that is credible in international terms and if our need to borrow money to meet our public expenditure needs is not met within a very short timeframe, the only alternative is to deal with this in one budget in one year and the cost of that would be €25 billion. Let that figure sink into people's minds. We can then discuss more honestly how we can deal with the 3% target and the €15 billion adjustment over a four year period.