Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Thank you Chairman. Mr. Ahern, the programme for Government and social partnerships created a need to finance pre-agreed commitments from available revenues. Can you discuss the extent to which, in your opinion, such long-term political commitments influenced and constrained the Government's budgetary decisions?

And I'm referencing, Chairman, page 101 Vol. 3, and also page 81, Vol. 3. So page 101 initially, which is from the Wright report. And that's, basically ... Mr. Wright basically says:

... the Programme for Government and Social Partnership processes helped overwhelm the budget process. Instead of providing an appropriate fiscal framework for [privatisation] of competing demands [prioritisation, rather,] ... the Budget essentially paid the bills for these dominant processes. Relatively clear advice to Cabinet in June on the risk of excessive spending and tax reductions was lost by the time of December Budgets.

And specifically figure 26, on page 81, encapsulates this and that's really, I suppose, what I want to ask Mr. Ahern about. Can you explain, first of all, you continually speak about taking responsibilities for the areas that you're responsible for. Do you take responsibility for the budgets in your time as Taoiseach?