Mr. Conor O'Kelly:

As the Deputy can imagine, I am not sure that is exactly the context or exactly what I said. I was asked previously whether the State could continue to extend its borrowing for matters such as housing. I was trying to say that when one is investing for capital and infrastructure investment, the market and credit rating agencies look on that much more favourably than current expenditure. It is important for us to get our current expenditure, our household budget if you like, back in balance and in surplus. Investors give a little bit more room for capital expenditure, especially if it is productive and recognising there is a housing crisis. There is some room there but our debt has become quite elevated. When we come through the pandemic, we will have borrowings of between €250 billion and €260 billion. The more elevated the debt, the more prone one is to future risks. One has to bear in mind that one has less and less capacity, for obvious reasons.