Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

That has been legislated for. The Minister queried my point on having a modest surplus, an example of which I gave as €1 billion, and why would the Government not put money into the fund.

Is it the Minister's assessment that if there was a general Government balance of €1 billion the Government would still have to put €6.5 billion into the fund or, indeed, almost half that amount at €3 billion? Let us remember that a large portion of the general Government balance is made up of SIF, therefore, it has quite a significant impact on the Exchequer balance. That is the reason the Government would not do that.

If the Government had a general Government balance of €1 billion, even if it wanted to put in €1 billion, it would not be able to under the legislation before us because it is either half 0.8% or zero. That did not answer the question. The legislation is based on there being a further deterioration. Section 9(4)(a) states, "that there has been, or is likely to be in the subsequent year, a deterioration in the economic or fiscal position of the State." There may not be any further deterioration. There may be a situation where the Government could not invest this year. God forbid, if we had a Covid pandemic or something similar, and we all knew this provision would be enacted, that is what it is really for and, therefore, the Government would not make any provision into the fund. One may not have a deterioration the following year and, indeed, there could be a slight improvement the year after that, but the legislation states that the Minister has to determine that there is a further deterioration in the fiscal position. I contend that the fiscal position could improve but the Minister is still not be in a position to put money into the fund. The legislation does not allow us to do that unless we just want things done with a nod and a wink and bring the resolution before the Dáil even though the fiscal position is improving.