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

Regarding what the Deputy has described as an embargo, we are involved in decisions on health service recruitment and retention. That is part of my job as Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. To reiterate what the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, has said, we are saying that Departments need to stay within the budget available for the number of people they are to recruit. That is the case with the Department of Education and Skills and any other Department that has a large number of people working for it. That is the sum total of what the Minister and I are looking to do together.

The Deputy asked about the planning under way to deal with the different consequences of a disorderly Brexit. We were planning for some of that in the run up to 29 March. Clearly we have had an opportunity to continue with that work. The Deputy referred to disaster planning. I do not want to understate for a moment the serious difficulty we will face if a disorderly Brexit occurs. However, in such a scenario we will still have over 2 million at work in the economy. We will still have a diverse economy providing work for a large number of citizens. Employment is at an all-time high but parts of the country and the economy will face real and significant challenges. That is why I say when we make a decision on that in September it will have very important policy consequences.

On the overheating of the economy, the Deputy is right that it is a balancing act. On the one hand, we need to ensure we make progress in building more homes but, on the other hand, we need to avoid that causing prices to rise in the economy. At the moment, inflation is low and credit growth is exceptionally low. I believe we are getting that balance right but we need to monitor what happens with prices and wages in the construction sector.

Could and should our response to a disorderly Brexit have a green dimension? There is certainly a case for looking at that. If I look at it very broadly and only from an economic point of view, which is not the way I tend to look at the issue, we would of course want to try to move parts of our economy into areas that will be genuinely sustainable in the long run.

There is certainly a case for looking at it if I look at it very broadly, and from only an economic point of view, but that is not the way that I tend to look at the issue. We want to try to move parts of our economy to those that will be genuinely sustainable for the long run. It is obvious that in doing that, we have to play our part and respond to the change in climate, which will be part of what sustainable industry looks like in the future.

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