Shane Ross (Independent)

I was struck by the attitudes of some Members of the Opposition. It is time they started behaving like a Government because they will be in government in a short period. It is time that everyone present considered the extraordinary dangers of defeating the budget. Today is not the right time to discuss blame. There will be and there has been plenty of time for that.

If the budget is defeated on 7 December, has anyone thought about the consequences? I do not know what they would be, but I suggest that it will mean no funding from the International Monetary Fund. It has been made clear that the money is contingent on the budget getting through. We are in as desperate a situation as that. Today, people who are about to take the reins of power should, at a minimum, be asking how to get a budget that is acceptable to everyone through. We should not be using the opportunity of this crisis to score points against a dead Government. There is no point in kicking it anymore. It is going out of office and that is the end of its members.