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

No. We are allowed to spend it, clearly, but it must be treated in a particular way.

To directly answer the Deputy's question on how can these rules and guidelines help during a period of economic contraction, where they are meant to help is when one is in a period of either growth or stability. One uses that period to get the deficit down and get debt under control so that when one is faced with the situation mentioned by the Deputy one is in a position to invest. What is a disaster for an economy and a country, more importantly, is the kind of cycle that we have just gone through. It was a time that our economy needed investment and needed investment in public services but we could not do so because our deficit was too high and nobody would lend to Ireland.