Finance Minister Brian Lenihan has insisted that the international financial downturn and the credit squeeze are mainly responsible for our economic problems.
Answering opposition questions in the Dáil, Mr Lenihan said that we had an exceptionally open economy which was more exposed to global trends than any other.
Fine Gael's Richard Bruton asked the minister whether he would accept responsibility for the destruction of the Celtic Tiger, while Labour's Joan Burton claimed that, were he presiding over similar results in the private sector, Mr Lenihan would be sacked.
The Minister also said that figures showed that the decline in tax revenues was continuing and that he would give fuller details in the quarterly figures, which are due early next month.
Mr Lenihan also said it was not possible for all projects under the National Development Plan to be delivered under the original timescale. He said elements of the plan would now be phased over a longer period of time.
He was responding to a question from Mr Bruton, who asked if a cost-benefit analysis would be published for those projects which were going ahead.
The Minister was also asked about the robustness of the Irish banks. He said that ensuring their stability was 'a central priority of the Government'.
