Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Vice Chairman. I wish to ask about the 1% margin of safety. In 2015, it hit 2%, not 3%. Last year, we were approximately 1% within the troika target. The council advocates that this is good, but we can quantify the flip side. One percentage point of GDP is approximately €1.67 billion. To stay 1% within the troika target in 2013, 2014 and 2015, the total figure will be approximately €5 billion. This is potentially €5 billion in missed investment opportunities.

European Commission President Barroso has stated that the austerity-only approach does not work. Professor Ashoka Mody has stated that this approach should not have been taken and that it would never have worked. While I accept that fiscal consolidation must happen, there seems to be a growing consensus that the austerity-only approach is not working.

Were the Government to take the council's advice and maintain the 1% safety margin, there will be a clear cost of €5 billion in missed investment. Of what is the council scared? If we tried to hit the actual target and used the €5 billion for job-rich investments, the risk of hitting 3.1%, 3.2% or so on would grow, but so what? These are made-up targets. A bunch of economists got together under considerable pressure and cobbled together a bunch of targets. They are not right or wrong. They are made-up numbers for fiscal consolidation. What concern of the council's is sufficient to offset the significant opportunity of targeted investment of €5 billion?