Mr. Carlos Martínez Mongay:

I thank the Deputy for her questions. We are not making a particular recommendation concerning Brexit, which we consider to be one of the risks to the current economic framework, because we have not introduced in our analysis in the country report and when preparing the country-specific recommendations any hypothesis or assumption regarding the final institutional framework of the relationship between the EU and the UK. As the committee knows, negotiations are ongoing and we do not know exactly how the transition period will operate. Issues remain to be resolved. Nothing will be agreed until everything is agreed. As such, the Commission will not make any hypothesis about particular impacts based on the process and final result of the negotiations.

Regarding the rainy day fund, it is important that we acknowledge that the Irish economy is a small and open one and, therefore, is exposed to external shocks. Given that we are in the positive phase of the cycle, the Irish economy should be ready to deal with a possible slowdown owing to various causes. Public finances are one of the first areas of an economy to be affected by a slowdown caused by an external shock. For this reason, the Commission proposes the creation of buffers. They will not only apply to Ireland. The Commission's global recommendation is that Europe should take advantage of the good times to prepare the economy for a possible future slowdown. As such, and without assessing whether €8 billion is enough, the rainy day fund is important for us and we are supporting the Government's decisions because the rainy day fund would provide the necessary buffer to an external shock, no matter its cause, and allow Ireland to deal with a slowdown's impact on public finances.

In the Commission's view, the lack of affordable childcare in Ireland can be a barrier to accessing the labour market for certain workers, particularly single parents. Childcare is a condition for more inclusive growth. Workers who need someone to take care of their children during their working hours must be supported in accessing the labour market.

On corporate taxes, the Commission sees they are booming in Ireland at the moment. Corporate tax receipts are increasing at a faster pace but at the same time we see that these receipts mainly come from, or are heavily concentrated in, a group of multinational companies. Those revenues, therefore, are subject to high volatility. That is the reason the Commission recommends that these extraordinary revenue gains are used to reduce debt further.