Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

If I may respond to a question from Deputy Doherty, I wish to alert the committee to the public consultation that is currently under way regarding the national recovery and resilience plan. It is open until 22 February and we would be delighted to hear from the committee as part of that process. All Departments have been consulted regarding the preparation of that plan which is currently under way.

On the question asked by Deputy Durkan, we are certainly pursuing counter-cyclical policies at this point. Over the course of 2021, our expenditure ceiling is almost €88 billion. That encompasses the money that has been allocated to the 45 Votes as well as the €5.4 billion across the recovery fund and, of course, the Covid contingency fund. We will require that money because the fact is that we are in level 5 restrictions. We are dealing with a very strong third wave of this virus. As such, the cost of the employment wage subsidy scheme, EWSS, the CRSS, the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, the local authority rates waiver and so on is running at between €1.2 billion and €1.3 billion per month at this stage. A certain amount of the provision necessary for that was provided for within the Votes allocated but, as the months go by and depending on the length and depth of the restrictions that need to be imposed, the resources we provided for are going to be required.

The Minister, Deputy Donohoe, given his international experience and overall responsibility in terms of macroeconomic policy, is well placed to comment on the overall budgetary strategy for the coming years. One thing he and I share is the view that we should be unremarkable in European terms when considered next to our peers. By that, we mean that we cannot be an outlier on the negative front because the extraordinary support of the European Central Bank, coupled with the strong position from which we went into this crisis, means that the current level of historically low interest rates will not continue indefinitely. The markets will at some point take a view as to the overall sustainability of each country's public finances. We are in a good position. I believe we are managing this well. We can afford to do what we are doing, but over the next period, and particularly in the stability programme update, we will need to map out a roadmap for the country in terms of the restoration of the public finances onto a sustainable path.