Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome our guests and have a number of questions. On the overall MFF spending, we know there is opposition from countries like Britain and the Netherlands to the overall budget being increased. There has been a lot of talk about the EU budget being used as a vehicle for investment, growth and jobs but how can happen, given the fact that there will not be a substantial increase in the budget? How can one square that circle, that the budget is supposed to be a vehicle for investment?