Dr. Aedín Doris:

Senator Ruane and Deputy Catherine Martin mentioned how much they dislike a 10% discount for an upfront payment of fees. We concentrated on the public finance implications for introducing an ICL. The only purpose for the inclusion of the 10% proposal was to show that if one is really concerned about the public finance implications, there are ways of getting around them. Whether one chooses that particular route is another matter. It is a matter of political choice. We wanted to show that there is no inevitability about massive deficits in an ICL system once it is introduced. Even if there were massive deficits in an ICL system, the same amount of funding, funded through any other system, will have an even bigger deficit. That is the reality.