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

In reply to Deputy McEntee, the short answer is "Yes", we are open to that. It is a pilot scheme and we want to see how it works. If Meath has specific proposals in that regard we would be well disposed to facilitating them. In reply to Deputy Lawlor, unfortunately the short answer is most likely "No". The strategic investment fund is still a fund so the money has to be repaid. It will work very well where something is built that produces a cash return, for example, electricity pylons or electricity wires. People pay for electricity and some of the money then goes back to the pension fund or the strategic investment fund. That really only works in the case of roads built by public private partnerships and the cash return, the availability payments or the tolls and only for very big projects of over €100 million. Therefore, smaller projects of that scale cannot be done as PPPs or else the transaction costs of doing so are so large that it is uneconomic. When it comes to strategic investment fund money, it will have to be PPPs and projects over €100 million. Having said that, I am doing my best to make the case in the next budget for some boost in capital spending. I think the most effective way to reduce welfare spending and increase the tax take is to get more people back to work because those people back at work will be paying taxes and will not be drawing welfare.

My Department has the ability to deliver jobs by increasing my budget if that can be done.

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