Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Frequently, commentators confuse the target with the ways and means of achieving it. The target is to have a deficit figure below 3% in 2015, which will be the last budgetary adjustment. The ways and means of getting there involve an adjustment of €2 billion. That was the estimate when it was being planned on a multi-annual basis. That remained the best estimate when we published and discussed the stability programme in April. On the current position, I refer to the position at the end of May, not mid-June, because the evidence comes in in monthly cycles.

The end-May position would suggest an adjustment of €2 billion would not be required to get below 3%.

The policy position is that whatever it takes to get below 3% will be done, but we are not trying to beat that target. We think there is enough growth in the economy now so that post-2015 the deficit will continue to go down simply because of that growth, and further fiscal adjustments will not be required. The Deputy will see how the medium-term economic strategy is built into achieving a balanced budget by 2018 without further adjustments.