DÁIL REPORT: Taoiseach Brian Cowen expects the budgetary process including the Finance Bill and Social Welfare Bill to be completed by February.
Mr Cowen told Labour leader Eamon Gilmore that the “greatest statement of confidence we could make is to adopt such a budget with the correction of the magnitude that we’re speaking of”.
He added that “it’s a matter of personal responsibility for us all to decide if this country is going to put through the budget or not”.
Mr Gilmore had called on the Taoiseach to state the deadline for the process and said it wasn’t in the country’s interest that “this budgetary process is prolonged to the end of March” to have “three or four months of instability, doubt and lack of clarity”.
Mr Cowen rejected a proposal by Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny that the budget be brought forward to next week.
Mr Kenny said a slimmed down version of the Finance Bill could be put through with the budget’s key ingredients. He added that he would facilitate the House sitting from Monday to Friday next week so that the work was completed between now and Christmas.
“This will bring some measure of certainty to a Government that is out of control,’’ he added.
Mr Cowen said it was very important, in terms of meeting fiscal targets and getting full-year affects of the plans in place, that the Budget be proceeded with on the date set out. “And we want to do that properly and appropriately,’’ he added.