Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Let me make a final point about the local property tax before getting into the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council's report. Before the Minister makes any determination on his options, these models should be provided for the committee in order that we would know who the winners and losers were, who would benefit and lose from a local authority's point of view. It is also important that the Minister outline what his position is on the retention of 100% of the proceeds and getting rid of the equalisation fund. Is he 100% committed to making sure the figure of 20% of the equalisation fund which is shared with local authorities in more rural and disadvantaged areas will be maintained in the context of Exchequer expenditure?

On the report of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, it was highly critical of the budgetary stance taken. There is a table, with which I am sure the Minister is familiar, which shows the mid-term projections which the council has stated for the second time in a row are unrealistic and not credible. It has again questioned the fact that the Government is not budgeting for the likes of the Christmas bonus. It has also pointed to health budget overruns, an issue the committee has discussed. There are indications that we will again see significant overruns.

Probably one of the biggest points that sticks out is that the Department and the Minister have not recognised the impact of our dependence on corporation tax in the previous document released by the Department. It shows that the impact is not as high but that the risk is high. The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council has questioned this. Given that the level of concentration is now more severe, at 48% of all tax revenue, according to the TEN Group of Companies, the fact that it is surging and that the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council is stating up to €3 billion to €6 billion may not be available in the medium term, is it time to look at the advice of the council on medium-term expenditure and give credible figures to the committee, the Oireachtas and the public? Is it time to look at having a policy on surges and increases in corporation tax?

The Minister may also be aware of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council's questioning of the design of the rainy day fund which at this point is counter-cyclical but which is not counter-cyclical in a downturn because it runs contrary to fiscal rules to use it for social protection payments or investment in health or education supports and so on because it is limited in the ways it can be used?