Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister's response echoes a response that my colleague, Deputy Pearse Doherty, received from the Minister's twin Minister, Deputy Noonan, in which he stated that decisions on allocations from 2016 onwards must not only have due regard for the level of expenditure required to ensure effective delivery of key public services but also the fiscal parameters set out under the preventative arm of the Stability and Growth Pact. This is where the problem arises. The Minister has billed this chapter of the Government's term as the point at which we move beyond austerity and begin to see a social dividend and, presumably, an economic dividend. However, that has not come to pass. My concern is that the expenditure benchmark is pitched at a structural deficit level of 0.5%. The Minister will recall that in the course of a referendum campaign we had a hot and heavy debate as to whether that was a good idea for this State. We took the view that it was not.

Can the Minister tell us his understanding of the stringency of the requirement for a structural deficit of 0.5% of GDP? Is he seriously saying he does not believe it will have an impact and necessitate further cutbacks?

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