Mr. Seamus Coffey:

The discussion on whether there are resources available relates back to the discussion between Deputy Calleary and Professor McHale. It is a conflict that legislators face in terms of actually making choices. From our perspective, we tend to be a bit agnostic on the choices made and look instead at the overall package. The idea that there are no resources available is simply not something with which we would agree. Within the fiscal rules, there is scope. Over the past two years, between 2015 and 2016, measures totalling over €6 billion were introduced. If there are priorities there that should be addressed, one notes that there was scope to do so. However, choices have to be made and there is no disputing that. The line has to be drawn somewhere. No matter where it is drawn, somebody will always point out the things that are just beyond the limit and say "We could have done that" or "We could have done the other". That is simply a fact of having limited resources. When it comes to the overall issue of addressing the problems, it is true that the fiscal rules place constraints on what can be done in terms of deficits. If, however, we want additional resources, we can either look at existing spending - the point has been made that there is limited scope for reallocation - or we can raise additional tax revenue. The rules do not stop us doing that.