Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

Is the Minister concerned that the structural deficit and the huge loss in revenue from the construction industry are gone forever? They will now be down at a very modest level. Has the Minister identified the ongoing loss from that deficit?

Does the Minister accept that if he can get people back to work - including work experience, graduate interneeship and apprenticeships, which the Labour Party has proposed - a couple of things can happen relatively quickly? When someone returns to work there is a saving in social welfare payments and, slowly but surely, the person's spending increases and they become a contributor to the income tax receipts. In addition, every time someone loses his or her job the cost to the State is about €10,000 per year in social welfare benefits. The debt spiral of deflation, as Ben Bernanke has described it in the United States, is not a good idea. More severe cutting causes job losses. The Minister's preference for cutting capital causes the deflationary spiral to get worse.

How does the Minister think EUROSTAT will treat the extra billions going to Anglo Irish Bank? Last year, the Minister disagreed with me when I said the €4 billion would count in our deficit, and it did. It now looks as though the €10 billion extra will not be €1 billion per year but rather €10 billion in one year. Can the Minister give a view on that?

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