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

It is not for this year but we are not ruling it out in future years. With tax collection to date, we expect it to come in on profile, cumulatively, for the year and we expect we will deliver the targets that we outlined last year. The Deputy is correct that there was underperformance, coming across May and June in most tax heads, and it has begun to improve. We are steadily reducing the gap we had versus profile. By the end of June, we reduced the gap by half versus where we were in February and March.

The Deputy asked if there will be an effect in future years and the answer is "Yes". The growth forecasts we are using for the coming period have reduced our growth outlook by three quarters of one point per year, which is a very big change. The difficulty we are all trying to manage is that much of this depends on what kind of Brexit happens. As the committee can see, it is a matter being very much negotiated and determined now and it will be for quite a while.