Madam, – Brian Cowen provided a comedic moment in Dáil Éireann this week, but only for those with a warped sense of humour, as he confirmed IMF/EU funding for Ireland of €85 billion, by reminding the house that his Minister for Finance was correct when he had previously estimated that the required amount would not be a three-figure sum. I imagine he intended to reassure.
Although reluctant to comment on such a complex technical matter at this time, when I last checked, eighty-five thousand million was an 11-figure sum: not so bad we’ll soon be told, considering nine of them are only zeros! – Yours, etc,