Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

Does the Minister propose to borrow for the national development plan, and what scale of borrowing does he envisage? I refer to borrowing for investment as opposed to borrowing for current consumption.

How does he propose to rate the different proposals in the national development plan? I have likened these before to a big soufflé. Now the oven door is open and soufflé is sinking rapidly. The Minister must decide which are the priority areas. How will he rate them? Will it be on the basis of the employment they create or the increase in competitiveness that results from them? Will he prioritise projects that help the economy to grow, or will it be based on their overall cost and their implications for borrowing? I have said before and I will say again that I am quite concerned about the Minister's comments on PPPs. Due to the lack of liquidity in the banking system, the cost of borrowing for private equity institutions has risen astronomically, while Ireland, as a country, can borrow much more cheaply, even though our rating is going down after today. Can the Minister say what he is planning to do? These are strategically important decisions.

See this speech in context