Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 16 June 2020

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response

Covid-19: Impact on the Fiscal Position

Mr. Sebastian Barnes:

To be clear, this is an illustrative amount. It is important that the right amount is ultimately chosen. That right amount could easily be much larger than the number we have suggested. It is not supposed to limit the amount to be spent. The amount that needs to be spent will depend on how the economy is doing but it could well be in excess of the figure we have given. That would be appropriate and the right thing to do. The State has the fiscal space to do that.