Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)

I will read the final paragraph of my original reply, which may help the Deputy. The reply states:

It should be noted that these funds are not all readily accessible. The NPRF commission has legally committed €1.2 billion to various fund investments, of which over €800 million is for investment in Ireland. The €800 million includes a commitment to provide funding on a commercial basis for the roll-out of the water metering programme, subject to certain other preconditions.

I agree with the Deputy that, at a time of such high unemployment, we have to strategically use the funds we have for the purposes of investment. He will note the decision of the Government yesterday and the announcement of the Minister, Deputy Howlin, today in respect of the disposal of State assets and how we can use a proportion of that sale for the purposes of investment in the real economy.

In the original negotiations with the troika, as the Deputy is probably aware, there was a view that as State assets were sold, the totality of the sale should go towards debt writedown. That is a position I suspect he, I and everyone else would fundamentally disagree with on the basis that if we have assets that can be used for productive purposes, we need those now in the economy. The announcement made by the Minister, Deputy Howlin, this morning and the Government decision taken yesterday, particularly as these assets are sold on a strategic basis, will mean that up to a third of that investment can be used for productive purposes within the economy.

The Government is mindful of this. We produced a jobs strategy but this must be backed up by hard cash and support where it is commercially useful and where it can leverage additional support.

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