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

We are in constant engagement with the European Commission on how we define a structural reform. To date it has been my view that such gains should be used to reduce our debt. However, if we look at where we are in the economic cycle, our national debt is now far higher than it was before we entered into the last crisis, which means that were we to find ourselves facing similar difficulties again - God forbid - we would be approaching that crisis point with a far higher level of debt than we had in the past.

The Deputy asked about the definition of the structural reform. We are engaging with the European Commission on that. Up to this point a structural reform has been defined as what would happen within a market or, indeed, a labour reform. We are looking at what is under way, for example, in Latvia where a structural reform now potentially could form a part of how it would respond back to a country-specific recommendation on health-care reform.

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