Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

My points may have been addressed; if so, the delegates need not respond again because I can read the answers in the transcript of the meeting. I ask the Chairman to guide me in that regard.

The issue of house prices in Ireland was flagged, but when I read the report, I could not see it highlighted hugely by the Commission. A concern about house prices is highlighted in the Department's briefing note. I consider it to be a big issue and would like to know what the Commission is saying about it.

On the question of structural reforms, there are four examples given on page 11 of the annual growth survey of structural reforms that have been implemented in Spain, Portugal, Poland and Italy. While I accept that Ireland's economy has been reformed and that a lot of reforms have taken place, there is still a lot more to be done. I contend that since the end of the troika programme we have been extremely slow to reform and open up the legal profession and to deal with top-level consultants in the medical profession. We have also been slow in dealing with the issue of pharmacological products, although there have been some changes made in that area. Italy, for example, has implemented measures aimed at increasing competition and transparency in the gas and electricity markets. We have not done a whole lot in that regard and are certainly not being singled out by the Commission as a good example.

Another issue raised in the annual growth survey is responsible, growth-friendly fiscal consolidation. On page 15 of the report the Commission highlights the fall in investment expenditure. Capital expenditure has dropped dramatically here. I argue that it has dropped much more under the Government than was envisaged under the troika agreement and the national recovery plan of the previous Government. This was done to avoid more politically unpalatable decisions on current expenditure, but it means that we are now less growth-friendly in terms of fiscal consolidation in that we have cut expenditure that would have helped us to grow. Do the delegates have any view on the matter?