Mr. Michael Tutty:

The Deputy suggested that the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has been changed by no longer having a separate Minister but as far as I can see, it is playing exactly the same role as it did when there were two Ministers. I know that one of the difficulties in government is that there is a limited number of Ministers. Therefore, if there are two separate Ministers in the Departments of Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, respectively, some other area loses out. As far as I can see, it is the same Department of Public Expenditure and Reform as was there when there were two Ministers.

Room for tax cuts depends on what other things Governments want to do. The more one wants tax cuts, the less expenditure one can have and vice versa. In looking at what is possible in the next budget, we certainly see that there is some more room for manoeuvre beyond what is committed already by Government. A choice can be made between tax cuts or further increases in expenditure without reaching what the stability programme update suggested would be spent in the next budget. I will leave others to respond to other questions.