Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister. He is in an elevated position today, though I know he would never dream of talking down to anybody. The Parliamentary Budget Office figures we have looked at and the Parliamentary Budget Office commentary that arrived on our desks over the last couple of days suggest that a further €7 billion in public spending will be made this year additional to what was originally allocated by the Dáil. That suggests that there will be at least one further set of Revised Estimates or Supplementary Estimates presented to the Dáil this year. Will the Minister comment on that? If it is the case, when will that happen?

Second, I note in the Minister's response to Deputy Mairéad Farrell earlier that he put on the record that he expects an additional €1.5 billion in receipts transferred from the National Asset Management Agency, NAMA, next year, so he is clearly factoring that into his budgetary considerations ahead of budget 2021. Are there any other significant once-off payments he expects to arise next year?

Third and final, though I hope to have the opportunity to put more questions to the Minister after his initial response, the Social Insurance Fund is obviously under significant pressure and there is expected to be a €3 billion refund to the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection from that fund before the end of this year. Outside of getting people back to work, how do the Minister and his colleagues plan to replenish the fund? There are huge draws on that fund at the moment and huge expectations in terms of additional benefits people might expect over the next few years. Does the Minister plan over the next period of time to bring, for example, PRSI contributions for self-employed and employer's PRSI up to the level of EU norms?