Mr. Neil McDonnell:

As to what is the right number, I have explicitly stated all along that there is no right number. Our number has been quite conservative by comparison with some of the numbers that others have come out with. If we took €78,000 for all SMEs, that would amount to approximately €11 billion. However, the key here is that the longer we wait to reinforce the SME sector, the more it is going to cost.

On the comment about aviation fuel, it strikes me as absurd that when I get on the bus to go to work, my pass includes a contribution to carbon tax, but when I go on holidays, my plane ticket does not include a contribution to carbon tax. That is a significant area of expenditure that could raise an awful lot of money relatively painlessly, so it should at least be in scope.

On charities, it is not just charities, it is also the NGO sector. What we see is the State outsourcing responsibility for many things that could be regarded as core activities to the NGO sector. The IPA report to which we linked refers to 247 of them. What we are suggesting is that we could consolidate those so we are not paying boards hither, thither and yon to do the same thing.

The local authorities were a big issue two elections ago. The point we are trying to make is that we have a population of 4.9 million, which is equivalent to the population of greater Manchester. Is there no way we could consolidate that a little bit more? We are not saying that we eliminate all of them.

On employment, again, what we are trying to say is that while it is the choice of the Oireachtas how long it continues these schemes, we are going to have a wave of unemployment hit us if we do not have those supports continue for some time.