Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 27 April 2021

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach

Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Chief State Solicitor's Office (Revised)

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I did not interrupt the Deputy. He is asking me questions in the context of creating the impression that massive cuts are on the way, whereas the story of this Government has been one of unprecedented intervention and support of income and jobs. We intend to maintain that theme of support for jobs and incomes but in 2022 we hope to be well out of this Covid experience. That is the hope of all of us. That would mean a different type of situation then in terms of the interventions by the Government in the form of income supports and supporting companies to provide employment. We hope that we would return to some level of a new normal but that we would also invest in new areas such as the green economy, digital transformation and the hospitality, travel and tourism sectors to try to get people back to work. The main focus of the national economic recovery plan is jobs and getting people back to work, in particular young people who have suffered a lot during this pandemic. Therefore, there might be a need to tailor supports, but the idea that we would keep the same supports going well into 2022 or forever is not tenable either. If we get out of the grip of Covid-19 and the influence it has on it, we will have to look at new areas for the allocation of expenditure, in particular in sectors that have suffered more than most in the past 12 months.

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