6.— (1) If the Commission addresses a warning to the State under Article 6(2) of the 1997 surveillance and coordination Regulation or if the Government consider that there is a failure to comply with the budgetary rule which constitutes a significant deviation for the purposes of Article 6(3) of that Regulation, the Government shall, within 2 months, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a plan specifying what is required to be done for securing compliance with the budgetary rule.

(2) The plan shall—

(a) specify the period over which compliance with the budgetary rule is to be achieved,

(b) if that period is longer than a year, specify annual targets to be met in moving towards such compliance,

(c) specify the size and nature of the revenue and expenditure measures that are to be taken to secure such compliance, and

(d) outline how any revenue and expenditure measures that are to be taken will relate to different subsectors of the general government.

(3) The provision made by the plan shall be consistent with—

(a) the rules of the Stability and Growth Pact,

(b) any recommendations made to the State under the Stability and Growth Pact in relation to the period over which compliance with the budgetary rule is to be achieved and the size of measures to be taken to secure such compliance, and

(c) the current stability programme.

(4) If the Government consider that exceptional circumstances have arisen during the period specified in the plan, the things specified in the plan are no longer required to be done; but when the Government considers that the exceptional circumstances have ceased to exist, the Government shall, unless there is no longer a failure such as is mentioned in subsection (1), within 2 months prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a new plan under that subsection.

(5) If the Government consider that a failure to comply with the budgetary rule is likely to occur the Government may, within 2 months, prepare and lay a statement before Dáil Éireann outlining the steps the Government intends to take to avoid such a failure.