Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I would like to know the Minister's views on the research carried out by Unite that found that in order to reach the mean average of other EU states with regard to public expenditure as a percentage of GDP, Ireland would need to increase investment in public infrastructure by approximately €9 billion. Ireland's expenditure on public services is currently 16.9% of GDP while the mean in Europe is 21.6%. We are actually near the bottom of the scale.

See this speech in context