Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the role Deputies Cowen and Michael McGrath are playing in framing the budget at a time of national risk. We all hope the risks will not materialise. Even though we are framing the budget on the basis that there will be a no-deal Brexit, of course, every effort will be made to avoid that taking place through the diplomatic and political work in which the Government is involved.

The Deputy asked about the public capital plan and Project Ireland 2040. The case I will be making to the Dáil and the public is that if Brexit is actually happening, with the effect it will have across the island, this is the time to stand by Project Ireland 2040 and deliver on our commitments. One of my big learnings during the economic crisis and in its aftermath was that very sudden and large reductions in public capital investment meant that in many cases the need was greater when an economy recovered. If we are moving through a slowdown of economic growth, in many ways Project Ireland 2040 is the best possible response.

The Minister, Deputy Bruton, will bring a report to the Cabinet on the debates that took place at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment on the national broadband plan. The current bidder is still the preferred bidder, but the Minister will bring a report to the Cabinet to update it. On a related point, the parts of the economy and country that will suffer the most in the event of a no-deal Brexit are also the parts that have the potential to benefit the most from the roll-out of the national broadband plan.

On health expenditure and current performance to date, at the end of August we had budgeted for an increase of 7.1%.

At the same point in the year we had an actual increase of 7.9%, which was a difference of 0.8 percentage points, whereas at the same point one year ago that figure was 3.2%. There is a different level in terms of where we are with the management of health expenditure, but I am still very much alive to risks that could materialise later in the year. How we deal with that potential risk is a massive area of ongoing focus for me.

I shall now turn to the health expenditure oversight group. The group met eight times this year. Reference was made to the minutes of the group meetings being available. Many of the minutes from this group have been in the national newspapers where details have been outlined in a fair bit of transparency. The agenda for those meetings and the work that has happened has been around where we are - from a budgeting view - with recruitment for different parts of our health service and where we are with spending versus what was budgeted with regard to different sectors within the HSE service plan.

The Deputy's final question was on bringing forward the work on the sustainability of corporate tax receipts. I will certainly give this consideration but between now and next March the action step is going to be the same. The action step will be in the context of a no-deal Brexit taking place and to try to ensure our surplus next year is as high as possible so that if we end up in a no-deal situation the effect on our national finances will be more manageable. I will, however, talk to my officials about it and see if we can make that work available to the House more quickly.