Dáil Sketch/Michael O'Regan: The Minister for Finance, Brian Cowen, is normally not lost for words. A skilled debater, who takes no prisoners in parliamentary exchanges, he has been involved in many a verbal brawl in the Dáil chamber.
Indeed, when the PDs were in Opposition, Mr Cowen once assured Michael McDowell that his "seed, breed and generation" were anti-Fianna Fáil.
Yesterday, Mr McDowell sat on the Government benches with other Ministers as Mr Cowen, given the seniority of his position, took the Order of Business in the absence of the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste.
All had changed, changed utterly. It was a taciturn Mr Cowen who responded to Opposition questions.
Words were used sparingly. Sometimes, it was just a case of a one-sentence reply to lengthy questions.
Fine Gael's Richard Bruton wanted to know about the reported €2.5 billion being sought by the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs, Seamus Brennan, for social welfare recipients. Mr Bruton wondered if Mr Cowen would indicate his "equal commitment to the conversion to socialism".
A frowning and clearly unimpressed Mr Cowen replied: "The Social Welfare Bill will be taken this session." Fine Gael's Bernard Durkan, used to a much more verbose Minister, remarked: "That was something of an anti-climax." And so it went on. Brief, sharp replies from an unsmiling Minister were the order of the day. "Bring back the Taoiseach," said Labour's Sean Ryan.
Finally, Joe Higgins, of the Socialist Party, had enough. "The monosyllabic responses of the Minister for Finance places us in the unbelievable position of suffering withdrawal symptoms and wanting a return to the Taoiseach's long and rambling replies," he declared.
The Minister for the Environment, Dick Roche, remarked that Mr Higgins could never be accused of being monosyllabic. "We were given the gift of speech to try to explain complex ideas," said Mr Higgins. "The latter cannot be done in one or two words."
As the exchanges continued, Mr Higgins, with an eye to the US election, referred to Mr Cowen's "arrogance". He added: "One would think it was he who had just been re-elected to office for four years." A still unsmiling Mr Cowen replied: "The arrogance resides with the deputy who is of the opinion that he is in the Cabinet."
"I would not be caught dead in the Minister's Cabinet," Mr Higgins declared.
Labour's Liz McManus remarked: "If we obtain this kind of non-reaction when we raise issues in the House, it calls into question whether the Minister is engaged in parliamentary activity at all." Mr Cowen was still unsmiling. "As I understand it, people are entitled to ask about the Government's plans for legislation," he said. "I am answering questions as they are asked." And so it petered out, with the opposition deputies muttering that Bertie should come back and all would be forgiven. The forgiveness is likely to last until the Taoiseach takes the next Order of Business on Tuesday.