Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his briefing on the motion and concur with the broad thrust of his argument. Given that the country is in a programme and borrowing substantial sums to fund day-to-day services, it would not be logical to add to the deficit by transferring money from the National Pensions Reserve Fund at this time. I have a slightly technical question. If we were to make contributions to the fund, would they be accounted for in the annual general Government balance? For example, during the good years, did every €2 billion we invested in the fund reduce the general Government surplus by the equivalent amount?

We must not make decisions that would in any way exacerbate current budgetary difficulties. We have seen the difficulty involved in reducing expenditure in the budget by €3.5 billion. A further reduction of €1.7 billion would be at stake if the investment were made in the National Pensions Reserve Fund.

The Minister of State noted that the discretionary portfolio of the NPRF had a current value of slightly under €6 billion at the end of September. A substantial portion of these moneys should be put to work in the economy. The Government has stated its objectives on the strategic investment fund, roll-out of domestic water meters and measures announced by the Minister in the budget. Together, these measures add up to only €1 billion of the €6 billion available. While no one is arguing that the money should be thrown away, we should identify and fund essential labour intensive projects that will position the economy for recovery. As far as I am aware, none of this money has been spent. While a notional allocation of €250 million has been made to the strategic investment fund, the legislation underpinning this investment has not yet been published.

I do not know when the roll-out of water meters will take place. I hope the Minister for Finance will announce SME funding soon. So far none of that almost €6 billion has made its way into the economy at a time when the country is crying out for investment. If the right projects are identified then we should be doing that.