Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

With all due respect to the Minister, he did not deal with the issue of the tools with which the Government will tackle the debt. It would be normal to expect that currently it is planning specific policy actions that will have an effect on that deficit. I am not just talking about the rolling back of the PUP, etc. The rolling back of that type of expenditure will not close the deficit gap or deal with the national debt. My worry is that the cost of this will be less expenditure in hospitals, healthcare, housing, ICT and road and transport infrastructure. There is an opportunity cost to the debt that is being built up now and the tardiness, to a certain extent, of the Government in making even small decisions, such as to reopen click and collect services, steals from the next generation. It steals from our children's ability to build an infrastructure and a society that they need. I ask the Minister to give specifics on his plans to reduce the deficit and debt into the future.