Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

As Mr. Coffey said, the borrowing environment is still very positive. We can borrow ten-year money at a rate that is almost negative and that might continue to be the case. If the borrowings were to be invested in a green new deal, that would address some of the imbalances in the economy, to which the council refers on page 15 of its document. If the borrowings were actually used to address the three key imbalances - housing, transport and the need to decarbonise - it would be justified, particularly as it would take some time to ramp up such investment; we could not do it overnight. We could find ourselves in a downturn, with the stabilisers to which people refer not being sufficient to halt the downward spiral. It would probably then be too late to engage in borrowing to address the imbalances. If borrowing was focused on addressing these imbalances, would it help to reduce any of the concerns of the council about overheating or the economic impact of such borrowing?