He was expressing a personal view. Clearly he has a lot of work to do in the Department of Finance. There has been no decision made on any element of the budget. – Labour Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton dismisses Fine Gael Minister of State Brian Hayes's suggestion that "well-off" pensioners might have to be targeted in the budget.
As far as the Irish programme is concerned, I see no change in my agenda at the moment. – German chancellor Angela Merkel indicates there will be no early deal on banking debt relief for Ireland.
It is clear that some sections of the print media are either unable or unwilling in their reportage to distinguish between "prurient interest" and "the public interest". – Minister for Justice Alan Shatter indicating he intends to revisit the 2006 Privacy Bill following the publication by the Irish Daily Star of photographs of a topless Kate Middleton.
My job is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives. – US presidential candidate Mitt Romney, in comments last May that became public this week, on the 47 per cent of Americans he says are "dependent upon the government" and would never vote for him.
One of the things I learned as president is you represent the entire country. – US president Barack Obama responds.
The lack of priority afforded to producing the free GP care legislation has been very disappointing. – Minister of State for Health Róisín Shortall (Lab) in a Dáil speech on a motion of no confidence in her senior colleague James Reilly (FG), during which she did not mention Dr Reilly by name.
They were gentlemen, they were hard-working men, they were not perfect but they were genuine, they were best friends. They were godly men; they did not talk about God, they just did God. They were just ordinary, but God made them extraordinary. – Emma Spence pays a moving tribute to her father, Noel, and brothers Graham and Nevin, who died in an accident on the family farm, at their funeral in Ballynahinch, Co Down.