John Gilroy (Labour)

We would be better off hearing more reasoned debate from the likes of Senators van Turnhout and Darragh O'Brien than the petty party political points scoring we have heard. It would be better for the House and everybody involved. All parties in this House and the other agree that the deficit in public finances must be closed and most parties are in agreement on the broad parameters of that deficit. We can talk about raising taxes and cutting capital spending but there is really no possibility of achieving these necessary reductions without having a look at the highest spending programmes in the Government, with social protection at the top. It is absolutely fanciful to argue we can close the deficit without touching these high-spending programmes.