Dr. Martina Lawless:

On discussions of the size of the State and matching expenditure with revenues, it is very much the role of the fiscal rules, and it is the fiscal council's view, that any spending by the Government is sustainable. It does not limit the size of the State or the political decisions on the amount of spending so long as that spending is backed up by sustainable revenue sources. Beyond that, we do not make any particular recommendations on the allocation of spending and how it is distributed between taxes and current and capital spending. Our view is very much on the aggregate levels and that spending is sustainable and matched by regular revenues. With regard to the Deputy's first comment on the concentration of Irish exports, it is also a concern in terms of the concentration of corporate taxes. The volatility and concentration of corporate taxes is something the fiscal council has raised a number of times in terms of the risks of spending and of translating volatile one-off surges in revenues into permanent increases in expenditure, which gives rise to different risks.

If used productively, infrastructure spending will potentially feed through into the long-term potential growth rate of the economy and that is one of the objectives that determines the amount of expenditure that is allowed.

In terms of carbon targets being addressed, it is something the current fiscal assessment report mentioned. The timeline was that these targets are more likely to be missed after 2021. The horizon of the current fiscal objectives was a bit more focused on the more immediate 2018 to 2021 targets. It has been highlighted as a potential risk in terms of the amount of money that would either have to be spent to ensure we meet the targets or the potential fines that might be encountered if we miss them.