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

Time flies when one is having fun.

The council plays a key role in the context of public information and education.

Will Professor McHale explain whether the growth of 2.5% in GDP in contract manufacturing is real growth? When we talk about figures, in terms of the economy having grown by 4%, and say we must all be doing well, we must realise some of it may not be real growth. There has been no real growth; what we have is statistical growth. The key issue on which I want to focus is the expenditure benchmark. This is a huge issue which the council has outlined in its report and on I tabled a parliamentary question to the Minister for Finance. The public is not aware of the restraints in increasing expenditure in the State. In that parliamentary question I asked what were the limits to which we could increase expenditure as a result of the six pack rule and the Department advised that between 2015 and 2016 we could increase expenditure by €400 million. Given the fact that public sector increments will be due to be paid in that period and taking account of other factors such as inflation, how will the State be able to remain within that benchmark in 2016? It seems it will be next to impossible without a range of cuts in other areas.