Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is exactly my understanding of the timing in relation to it, that the Minister, Deputy Noonan, and the Department of Finance may make a revision on the figures that I have just shared with Deputy Calleary in June. That will be purely a determination for Deputy Noonan's Department.

In terms of any likely change, Deputy Calleary is correct to state that the growth figures for this year are higher than anticipated. We saw growth last year of approximately 5%. We should see growth this year of approximately 4.5% and we are expecting a growth rate next year of 3% to 3.5%. The key factor in it all, as the Deputy will be aware, is that as we are currently participating in the excessive deficit procedure of exiting from a bailout programme and under the fiscal rules, we must deliver the medium-term objective of having a balanced budget next year. When we deliver that, the position then changes significantly for subsequent years and that is the key factor in terms of the availability of resources for next year. I emphasise that those resources will be very scarce against the array of demands placed against them.

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