John Gerard Hanafin (Fianna Fail)

Will the Leader request the Minister for Finance to address the House at the earliest opportunity on the outcome of the ECOFIN meeting? I am especially conscious that we are not in a vacuum and that we need to be very careful about what we say. The comments about sovereign default and the question mark over how we manage our economy do not serve us well because what we say is often misrepresented, particularly in the international press.

I am very conscious that those who wish to be responsible will see that the best way to show responsibility is by supporting the budget and the four-year plan. That plan will remain in place regardless of which parties form the next Government. Calls for an immediate general election are nonsensical at this stage. An immediate general election would lead to instability, the budget being rejected and the international markets reacting immediately. For five or six weeks after the general election, we would have the coalition polka where the Labour Party would step in, step out and step in again and, once more for the benefit of the left, step back out again before eventually stepping back into coalition. It would be ridiculous at a political level for people to call for an early general election. Similarly, we should be conscious that if the Donegal South-West by-election results in a Sinn Féin win, given its economic policies, it would be to the detriment of the economy of this country and of the euro.