Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I have had engagement with the CIF and other representative bodies on this matter, but I have always met them with other organisations like the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. Much of the engagement we had in the past couple of years involved these organisations calling for increases in capital expenditure to be placed in a planning framework. I believe the CIF now accepts we have planned significant increases in capital expenditure, and our engagement now is largely about how we can make that happen and ensure Project Ireland 2040 takes place.

On capacity constraints, the CIF tells me it is difficult to get the people needed to do big projects. However, it also tells me that what I need to put in place to attract more people to the economy is a longer-term framework for capital expenditure that will allow companies and potential employees to have greater confidence about increased or steady capital expenditure for the years to come. I have done that.

I can take a number of different steps to address capacity constraints and the possibility of the economy overheating. These include looking at the way we manage the wages of people who work for the State, reviewing procurement and the price we set for projects and increasing capital expenditure at a pace the economy can absorb. We have made judgment calls and tried to do the right thing on all these issues.

In an economy as open as this, however, it is fair to say that there are responsibilities on others, in particular employers and employee representatives, to ensure that the rates of wage growth delivered inside companies and sectors of the economy are genuinely affordable. That has been the case in many areas this year and last year, but the rates can quickly get out of hand and we need to be careful.