Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Dooley makes a valid point in stating that local authorities are under pressure and I fully acknowledge that. Central government also is under a lot of pressure and I find it a little disingenuous of local authorities to point the finger at central government, which perhaps has cut its allocation by 20% or 30%, when the local authorities actually have cut their own by 60%. It is interesting to observe the wide variation among local authorities in quite similar counties as to how much they do or do not put into roads. It also is important to bear in mind that 85% of motor tax goes to local authorities, some of it through my Department, which must be spent on roads and some through the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, which they are not obliged to spend on roads. It is interesting to see how little of the latter local authorities choose to spend on roads.

As for the €1 billion, that amount is being saved every year for at least the next ten years as a result of the elimination of the promissory notes. That is €1 billion less that the Government must borrow and not €1 billion more that the Government has to spend. There is a very big difference and I would hate to see this country revert so quickly to that Charlie McCreevy way of thinking. His way of thinking, which is the reason we are in this current mess, is "When I have it, I spend it". However, the Government does not want to be in a position whereby it states that as it is not obliged to borrow it, it will spend it. It is too soon to talk about the next budget, as there are a lot of moving parts. For example, Departments overspent by €1 billion last year and were that to happen again, the aforementioned €1 billion will have been eliminated. The Government must achieve €300 million in savings targets from the Croke Park extension alone this year. In addition, the Government does not know whether the growth targets will be achieved this year. Consequently, it is too soon to start spending that billion euro at this point.

However, if money or a capital stimulus becomes available, I have many projects that are ready and the ones I can move on the quickest relate to road maintenance and minor works. I heard Jack O'Connor, one of the SIPTU leaders, talking earlier about a public private partnership or off balance sheet stimulus. That would be attractive but anyone who has been involved in a PPP knows it takes two to four years to bring them to fruition by the time a consortium is brought together and so on. We need a stimulus now or next year, not in four year's time and that is why I would prefer an Exchequer stimulus rather than an off balance sheet stimulus, but that is contingent on the budgetary position looking better at the end of the year and it is too soon to start considering that now.

See this speech in context