Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

-----who is in power or the personalities involved, it would have been better for the country had it been permitted for the first three months under the EU-IMF arrangement to provide for a continuity of government. In late November the Green Party decided on what was constitutionally an extraordinary position, whereby it, effectively, withdrew confidence from the Government but decided to remain in office to do certain things. There was an argument for a dissolution at that stage, but it was overwhelmed by the circumstances in which the country found itself. It needed continuity of government in those few months but did not get it. Those responsible for not giving it will be obliged to take the judgment of history on the issue.