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

The full report on ISIF will be with me in the next couple of weeks as it is nearly done. I would expect to be in a position to review it and make decisions by early September. On capital expenditure, I have outlined my decision on the allocation of funding from the rainy day fund but I have also flagged, to the committee and the Oireachtas, that we will not increase capital expenditure to a level that can cause other difficulties in the economy. I do not believe there is a risk at the moment, nor do I see signs of overheating at the moment but, as I said last Tuesday or Wednesday, risks could develop in the coming years and I am aware that we were burned in the recent past.

Deputy Calleary asked about the EIB, with which I engaged on Monday. We are making progress in discussions on funding that it could provide from an enterprise support perspective, following on from the success we had with agriculture in last year's budget, and to support infrastructure investment. I expect to make decisions on this in the second half of this year. The EIB is a lender, albeit an institutional lender which can lend at low rates, and I will have to make a decision on behalf of somebody who receives the borrowing as to what is the right choice for the Government to take.

Two things will impact on fiscal space. The first is what happens to growth this year and the second is how the economy grows next year. It is possible that the fiscal space will change a bit as we go through the year but I am not expecting it to multiply. There have been changes but if there is to be a shift it will be an increment.