Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Burton is well aware from her time as a Minister of what happens here. These are recommendations from the European Commission. Obviously, the Government takes these things into account but as we speak, the Ministers for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform are meeting in Brussels with the European Investment Bank about the very issue of infrastructure in order that a proposition can be put forward by which funding and a stream of income resulting from major pieces of infrastructure can be put forward. Elements of that would be, for instance, the metro for Dublin or, for instance, the major motorway required from Cork to Limerick, in respect of which a stream of income would come to fund loans for those propositions and more to follow.

Deputy Burton is well aware that there is a €42 billion programme for infrastructural investment here. The review of the capital programme out to 2021 is currently under way.

The AIB situation has been referred to by the Minister for Finance on many occasions, a Cheann Comhairle. That is a paper exercise. When the testing of the 25% share sale is gone through, that will be used for debt reduction.

The Commission is entitled to make its views known, as it has. It has made its views known on Apple and it has made its views known on other things, but the Government would be very careful to manage prudently our economic affairs in the interests of our people-----

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