Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

No, that is not the case. The Deputy is fully aware of the new rules under the Stability and Growth Pact. We are exiting the corrective arm of the pact. Our legal objective this year was to have a deficit below 3% of gross domestic product. As long as we maintain a deficit below 3% of GDP under the corrective arm, we could adjust expenditure within that context. However, that will change next year when we enter the preventative arm, where we will have to work in legally agreed steps towards are achieving our medium-term objective, MTR. As such, there will not be scope for Supplementary Estimates next year. We have the capacity to address issues in the course of this year. In many ways, the budgetary analysis will have to be robust to ensure everybody lives within their budgetary allocation for next year.

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