Maria Bailey (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I want to get the view of the council on increased expenditure on capital infrastructure including schools, housing, transport and so on. Given that we have had years of a lack of investment in these areas, I welcome the fact that we are increasing the future productivity capacity of the economy. What is the council's view on that? If the much-needed capital investment did not take place, would our deficit position be better?

On health and following on from what Deputy Pearse Doherty has said, there is a recruitment drive under way in the health sector at the moment. We have an ageing population which will put further financial strain on the health budget. I do not think anybody would argue against the need to streamline and overhaul expenditure in the Department of Health. As has been suggested by others, we need to keep a closer eye on it at particular points in the year. I ask the witnesses to give us their views on the health budget and where they believe the biggest increases will arise within that budget. Will the increases stem from investments in infrastructure, staffing or just general overspends?

Mention was made of additional tax increases. The council suggests that additional spending should have been funded by additional tax increases or through the reallocation of existing spending. What kinds of tax increases was the council referring to there? Was it referring to the introduction of new taxes or increases in existing taxes? The IFAC report also suggests that "significant overheating pressures could build up if a faster-than-expected pick-up in housing construction materialises". What is that suggestion based on? I ask because we have a significant skills shortage here and are probably not going to be building what we need by 2020. We need to be building approximately 30,000 new units per year and it will take us at least another two years to get to that point. What level of overheating does IFAC envisage?

My final question is on health. Are health spending overruns not a feature of most developed economies or are they unusual?