Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The principle outlined by the Deputy is correct in that if there is to be a future agreement to replace the current one, we must have the ability to pay for it. We will have that ability but I will deal with the issue of how much of our future financial flexibility could be absorbed by it when we get to the conclusion of the current agreement.

I thank the Deputy for acknowledging the increase in capital investment, which was confirmed yesterday. We had a commitment to increase investment by an additional €4 billion and I confirmed yesterday that I would inform the Oireachtas that we are seeking to increase that to €5 billion, an extra €1 billion. It is my expectation that when the latter is in place, we will see capital expenditure increase from approximately 3.4% to 3.9% of national income. There will be an increase on the current position.

We can consider how this compares to where we were previously. We can begin to compare capital investment as a percentage of national income to where we were in the run-up to the tiger period and across that time, when we spent approximately €9 billion per year, for example, in completing our national road network.

However, I do not think that is an appropriate base to use. There was a very large amount of investment in that period in putting in place a national road network but one of the consequences was that parts of our economy overheated. I am confident that when we rebuild our investment, as I proposed yesterday, there will be a sustainable level of capital investment in our economy which I am confident will then trigger further investment from the private sector.

I was asked about the flexibility of the European Union rules and we have already discussed smoothing, as well as differentiating between current and capital expenditure, which would be an important recognition of the different types of expenditure. In the future, what I require is consistency in the way these things are implemented. If something is treated as a public-private partnership now, I am confident this will be the case in the future. Consistency will be important to this and other Governments in the coming years.