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

I will come in on that. I agree with the point the Deputy made about the language of how we communicate where we are on economic policy. I was engaged in a one-man campaign in the previous Dáil to banish the terms "gross fiscal space" and "net fiscal space" from any conversation in which I was involved, and the Deputy's words will encourage me to keep at it. We need to challenge ourselves in the language we use to make it as clear as possible.

In truth, I think we can work with the committee to explain the principles behind the summer economic statement and its work before decisions are made and how it works, but I do not believe we can engage with the committee on the content of the summer economic statement before we in the Government agree it. It is a decision by the Government on future budgetary priorities and has to be agreed within the Government before we can take that strategy to the Parliament and to our country. Yes, there are definite opportunities for us to engage, to explain the process and to make it as clear as possible, but it is appropriate that we engage with the committee on the content of the statement only when it is agreed by the Government. We have to put enough time into doing that inside the Government. When that is done, that is the right point at which to engage with our Parliament on the content of the statement.