A leading bookmaker appeared to be playing with fire last night, offering odds on how long the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, will take to deliver his budget speech. Mr McCreevy, himself a keen gambler, was in Brussels last night, but is sure to hear of the odds before he rises on Wednesday to address the Dail.

Paddy Power, a bookmaker by now famed for offering punters the chance to gamble on unusual events, said he would give odds of 5/1 on Mr McCreevy finishing his speech in under 46 minutes. Mr Power pointed out last night that the 46-minute record for brevity was set last January by Mr Ruairi Quinn.

The bookmaker said he would pay out 11/8 on bets that the speech would be under an hour and 15 minutes, 9/4 for bets on it being from an hour and 15 minutes to an hour and 25 minutes, and 11/8 on bets that Mr McCreevy would run over an hour and 25 minutes.

Sources inside the Department of Finance said last night that while Mr McCreevy did not yet know about the bets on offer, he would soon.

"We expect him to be an hour and a half," one source said. "He should start at ten past or a quarter past four, and finish at a quarter to six. Certainly not before half past five."

Minister-watchers said that while Mr McCreevy can speak rapidly while in conversation, he generally delivers speeches at quite a slow pace. This could push the length of the address to well over an hour and 30 minutes, they pointed out.