Aideen Hayden (Labour) | Oireachtas source

That is very good news. The issue came up several times and would be a very important change from Ireland’s perspective.

Representatives of the Fiscal Advisory Council are appearing before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform. For the sake of argument, I see myself as Italy and the Fiscal Advisory Council as Germany. Last year it recommended that Ireland cut its budget by €3.2 billion and we cut it by €2.5 billion against the recommendation and the economy grew. This year it recommended that we cut it by €2.2 billion and not only did we not do this, but we increased expenditure by €500 million. To date, we have taken in more than €1.1 billion that we did not expect to receive. That is an Irish example that says one can push people too far and that there comes a point when one has to let go and stimulate. Just as we had to stimulate domestic demand the European Union has to stimulate demand.