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

It is a big change to the tax code but I wish to see the roll-out of PAYE modernisation. The Deputy was good enough to acknowledge the Revenue Commissioners' efforts to reach out to companies. It has every chance of being a success but I know that issues such as the Deputy raised can certainly affect it.

Deputy Fleming made many points about health and housing, which are key themes of the budget overall. From the point of view of expenditure and the availability of resources, the clear choice that has been made is to allocate many additional resources next year to ensure those two key Departments have an even better ability to meet the needs of citizens who rely on them to provide services.

In conclusion, over the number of hours of this debate many Deputies referred to Brexit. I said in my Budget Statement this is the greatest diplomatic and political challenge of a generation. It is becoming more and more apparent to me that this is a challenge that will have many different stages. Given the diplomatic and political effort the Government is putting into this and the support that parties and the country offer on the issue, I am confident we will secure a positive outcome in regard to the withdrawal treaty. It will be demanding, however, and there will be much work that will happen up to that point. There will also be risks, as the Taoiseach outlined today, and it will change the economic and political prospects of the country. Budget 2019 went some way to helping us deal with those challenges, and I look forward to working with Deputies in the House on Committee Stage of the Finance Bill to ensure the passage of the budget.

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