Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I sense that there may be a row-back in terms of Government policy, because the Taoiseach was advocating a €4 billion USC return to the State over the next five years. Whether it is 50% of the fiscal space returned in USC or one third, as the Minister says today, that has to be contrasted with the level of investment in the State. In the spring statement, the Minister said that Government investment would decrease from 1.8%, which is the figure today, to 1.5% in 2020. That would mean that Irish Government investment was the lowest in the European Union. In real terms, that means that projects such as flood defences will not get the necessary investment to which they are entitled.

See this speech in context