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

The Minister, Deputy McGrath and I are constantly at pains to acknowledge the challenges and difficulties many are facing at the moment but in the same breath to make the point regarding the things that are still going well in our economy. We both made reference in our opening statements to where we are with income, with employment and to the growth that has taken place in our economy and the very positive change that has happened since the pandemic has lessened. We are aware of the need for that balance because it is important the people of our country are reminded that despite the new challenges we are facing so soon after we have dealt with the cost of a pandemic, we have an economy that has a very high level of employment, is still growing in a very robust way, and has public finances that have recovered. That should give us confidence in our ability to manage the challenges that lie ahead. Deputy McGrath and I have said again and again that we cannot meet every need placed upon us in the Dáil and elsewhere but we are both confident we can do enough to help and that we will continue to do that. As one final concluding comment on that, Deputy Ryan made the point earlier regarding what is happening with public transport in Spain and what is happening in Poland with VAT. If we go down the path of picking the single biggest measure each country has done and say in the round that Ireland has to match them all, that is the path to the creation of new risks and problems for ourselves. We have to compare what we are doing in the round, to what other countries are doing in the round. There are plenty of economies that have not cut excise, or VAT, or that have not done the one-off payments that Minister McGrath has brought forward. What Ireland has done in terms of scale and targeted and broad measures, compares well to what many other countries in Europe have done and we should continue to look at it in the round when comparing overall what we are doing versus elsewhere.