Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We have yet to design the investment strategy. We will engage with and rely on the advice of the NTMA, which has considerable expertise in this regard. It is not a short-term fund. It is a fund with a medium- to long-term focus. That will be reflected in the investment strategy to give us the best possible chance of earning the maximum return that we can because those resources will come back to the Exchequer and the public, thus enabling future Governments to make decisions that will be in the interests of the people whom they serve. That is broadly our approach. We will have more to say on budget day. An important part of our overall considerations is making the best use of this window of opportunity that we have now because it will close over the period ahead. The buoyancy that we have seen in corporation tax receipts will not last forever and we are already seeing a levelling off in the level of growth in the receipts. The receipts continue to grow but at a much more slower rate than in recent years. We foresaw this. We knew this was going to come. We think there will be further changes in the future on the negative side when the full pillar 1 and pillar 2 elements of the OECD deal are implemented in their entirety so we have to plan for the medium to long term as well as doing the best that we can for people now in the forthcoming budget.