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

The Deputy is wrong. As we get into this Bill I have no doubt we will thrash this out in detail and frequently. I never made any reference to what the former Minister for Finance, Mr. McCreevy, did with his surplus. As the Deputy knows, I pointed to a fact that is correct, which is that at a time when the economy was growing and approaching full employment - I think it is possible this economy will do the same again - there was a rate of current expenditure growth between 8% and 12%. The rate of planned current expenditure growth for this budget next year is 3.4%.

The Deputy has called many times for the tax base to be broadened, for our tax code to be made more resilient. He has disagreed with how I have done that and thinks that in some areas I should have done more. We will get into that. When I have broadened the tax base, as I have done in several areas, most of the revenue that is being raised is going into expenditure, not tax reduction. The contribution those tax heads is making to our total tax collection is, as the Deputy knows, a fraction of where it was in the past. I reject entirely any assertion here that the budgetary policy I am putting in place is reminiscent of what caused such difficulty in the past, because the figures show it is not.