Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I direct the next question to the Minister. We know the position of the Government on water and will not rehash it in terms of the commission and a vote in the Dáil at a certain stage. I am curious about the fiscal space, however, given the uncertainty of that vote in the Dáil and whether water charges will be abolished or suspended indefinitely. They are currently suspended to 31 March 2017. If they were to be suspended for the remainder of the year, that would use up €58 million of the fiscal space.

Given the expenditure benchmark rule and the fact that it will be a decision of the Dáil and is outside the Government's hands as a minority Government, is it the Government's position that the €58 million to allow for the suspension of water charges for the remainder of 2017 must be factored into the budget?