Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)

I thank the Deputy for his question. There are always projects ready to go which need funding. Whether they are delayed or not depends on one's perspective. Every single State body will have projects that it wants to deliver for which it needs funding. State bodies have to make the case to the Government for that funding. I know the Deputy is not suggesting that every single project should be funded immediately, but I am answering his question directly when I say that I do not consider that those new projects are delayed, but I consider that to be the normal prioritisation that a Government has to make.

On the point regarding borrowing, it would be a traumatic swing for Ireland, which I would want to avoid, to go from a large surplus to borrowing quickly. We are in a better place where we are able to position ourselves as being a surplus economy. I would make the case for a large swing if we were to get into an environment in which our economic fortunes were really beginning to change and we needed to borrow to put a big injection of demand into our economy to keep jobs and stimulate our economy if our growth was beginning to go down. We are not in that position at the moment. I hope we will not be and I have just outlined my view of the economy. I also know, as the Deputy knows, how quickly things can change.

Instead, the approach that the Minister, Deputy Chambers, and I are working on, which I think is the right approach to use for now, is that we have at least €14 billion of funding that will be available from the Apple judgment and some billions of euro that are available from various decisions we have made regarding our banks, and we have existing capital ceilings that already show growth up to 2028 or 2029, but the money has not yet been allocated to different Government Departments. Between the combination of both those things, the Government will make significant additional capital allocation to individual Departments.

To try to answer the Deputy's question clearly, I would only countenance borrowing if we found ourselves in a position where economic growth was really beginning to change and we had a concern that the number of people at work in our economy was going to go down. Otherwise, we will run into real issues regarding whether people are available in our economy to do the work. Despite everything that is going on, I still encounter so many employers that tell me that the issue they have is getting and keeping talent. We need to be conscious of that too, as I know the Deputy will understand.