Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The same logic, however, could apply to the Covid expenditure and so on. It is a different shift from IFAC and I can understand why the council is trying to shift in that direction.

The last thing I will say is on windfall capital expenditure. One can argue about why we would call it that but it is actually funded by windfall receipts and that is the reality. Does the council not accept in any way that a state could operate on the basis that X amount is the appropriate capital expenditure for the next decade, let us say it is €10 billion for argument's sake, but because of where we have come from over the last number of years a catch-up programme is required that may need an extra €3 billion to be added over the next two to three years from the windfall receipts? Is that not an appropriate view? It is not core. It is recognised it is not going to stay permanently at the new level of €13 billion and will reduce back to €10 billion, but we have missed out so much that we need to escalate and ramp up supply.