Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 17 October 2012

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform

Public Expenditure and Reform Vote: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform

5:30 pm

Photo of Peter MathewsPeter Mathews (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his presentation and will start with the positive points. I congratulate him and his team on the productivity achieved, including the 7% reduction in salaries and the 7% pensions adjustment, which together amount to a reduction of 14%. We have to do this kind of housekeeping. The first half of the conversation today was with the Minister's colleague and mine, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan. I reminded him that it was over one year since publication of the paper by Cecchetti, Mohanty and Zampolli on the real effects of debt on an economy. The Minister for Finance received a copy last year. I was dismissed and sidelined a little and told it was kindergarten economics. However, it is not.

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