Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

That is appreciated.

On the Minister's statement and that of the Taoiseach, that there is no policy change, of course, there is a policy change. Let us accept that. What we are dealing with are important issues for the State. The MTO change is a significant policy change. It will allow us to achieve our medium-term objectives in 2018 if we, as a country, or the Government, accept that the figure is 0.5%. The outflow is that the fiscal space increases by €1.5 billion. We are not talking about pennies or pounds. This is a huge policy change, one with which I agree. The European Commission sets the minimum medium-term objectives. The medium-term objective accepted by the Government has to be included in the stability programme update. It is a policy change, as stated in black and white on the first page of the document, and we should not pretend that it is otherwise because those who may disagree with it should know that it is a policy change and the consequences and either accept it as either being good or bad. From my point of view, it is good.

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