Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Anti-Austerity Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister.

One of the more interesting parts of the expenditure report was the part on expenditure rules. It contains a lot. In summary, empirical evidence suggests the existence of a negative correlation between public investment and the use of an expenditure rule estimating that countries with an expenditure rule in place will see the ratio of gross fixed capital formation to GDP decrease by almost 0.6%. Is that an admission that the fiscal rules hamper the necessary public investment in, for example, housing or any area one wants?