Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 23 September 2025
Committee on Budgetary Oversight
Pre-Budget Engagement (Resumed)
2:00 am
Dr. Robert Kelly:
The rationale the Chair outlined is perfect. It is then about making the choice that if there is a fixed envelope of spending overall, this is this sector you wish to support. That is a political choice. If you stay within the 5% rule, you then cannot do some of the other redistributional stuff. That is exactly what the budget process is about.