Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

One should not need to be Sherlock Holmes to piece together these numbers. These are historic figures and our questions are about what was included and already provided for in the fiscal space last year. The Minister appears to be saying that the amount of money required for demographics has doubled for next year. He says €400 million was already provided for and taken into account in the estimate of fiscal space which he provided last year for 2019. He tells us now that an extra €400 million is required for demographics for 2019. In circumstances in which I must be able to have confidence in these numbers, that is an extraordinary change and one the Minister must explain. While last year's summer economic statement said the figures did not include the extension of the Lansdowne Road agreement, there were replies to other parliamentary questions which said those figures had been taken into account. The numbers keep changing.

11 o’clock

It is hard to have confidence in what the Minister is saying. He must spell out the components. Is he telling us there is an extra €400 million for demographics and €400 million for public sector pay that were not taken into account? We understand that the €300 million carryover would not have been taken into account. Then the Minister must apply three quarters of the extra capital expenditure and take that from the fiscal space as well. Is that essentially what the Minister is saying?

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