Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I am trying to get an idea of Dr. McDonnell's assessment of how much at risk that windfall corporation tax is. He said we either need to save or invest in infrastructure. I and some other members of this committee are also on the Committee on Budgetary Oversight, where we have met with the Central Bank, IFAC and the ESRI, which all referred to the importance of saving and putting the money aside for countercyclical investment for when there is a downturn. They have not been saying to save or put it into infrastructure; they acknowledged the infrastructure deficits but were arguing strongly for saving on a countercyclical basis. Dr. McDonnell is saying something quite different and, in his view, either is fine. Perhaps he can expand on that because it is quite a different view from what I have been hearing in the Committee on Budgetary Oversight.