Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

My position is that if we are running surpluses, the Government of the day would need to consider how it will spend them. We should not automatically spend everything we have at the top of the business cycle. That is not the way to behave. I want to build in another option for the Government of the day if there are significant surpluses. In the 2000s, I saw Ireland building the most expensive roads in Europe because there was too much capital being spent. All that happened was tender prices went through the roof. I saw us building the dearest schools in Europe because tender prices went through the roof. It was a transfer of surplus funds from the taxpayer to the developers and builders. One has to manage capital programmes the same as any other programme and this is one mechanism for managing it. The Government of the day may decide to do something different but I do not want them to be left with their hands hanging if something unexpected happens. I am trying to build in another policy instrument that a future Government could use. It would be a matter for the Government to use it or not.