John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his contribution. Where I am coming from is the principle of keeping it simple. When I think of the concept of a rainy day fund and from where it originates, it is about the notion of putting something aside until a real need emerges. If families can afford to do so, they put something aside for a rainy day when something will arise which cannot be met from existing or normal resources. It is unpredictable and the money is to meet such strict emergencies.

I welcome the debate because the issue becomes provocative the deeper we dig into it.

I am interested in what Deputy Thomas P. Broughan said. Perhaps he might regret mentioning the example of the foot and mouth disease outbreak, but it is provocative too as it gets us to think deeper. For me, one of the principles of such a fund is that it should benefit the common good as opposed to being for use in dealing with a sectoral disaster, for example. Will it or can it make money while funds are sitting in it?