Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I will come in on the questions which were relevant to me and I thank Deputy Doherty for posing them. We have not made any decision as to where the €250 million will be allocated. As I noted in my contribution, we will do all we can to avoid spending that money in any way that adds to inflationary pressure within the economy. Regarding the critique from the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, IFAC, that was referred to, if we are in a period of prolonged inflation it undermines the purchasing power of our capital expenditure plans. However, on the other hand, IFAC, has also warned us that it has also indicated it has concerns regarding how we are already planning to increase capital expenditure by €2.25 billion and it offered a critique of that as well. Therefore, we have to get the balance right. We are bringing forward additional capital expenditure to allow new projects to go ahead and preserve the real value of our capital expenditure in the time ahead. If we were to add any more than that into our economy in the time ahead, particularly across next year, it would further provoke the inflationary pressures about which IFAC warn us so much. Therefore, on one hand, I accept the value of our spending plans could be affected by high inflation, but on the other hand, adding further to our capital spending plans in the time ahead has already received some critical comment from IFAC and we have to get the balance right.