Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

-----but 20 or 30 years ago it would have been considered ABC Keynesian economics. In the face of a possible serious disruption of the economy, whether as a result of Brexit or, for that matter, a looming recession, what Keynes, who was not a socialist, argued is that one should boost people's incomes, boost demand, boost spending power and boost investment in key strategic areas. As the Minister considers his options in the case of a no-deal Brexit, I argue that he should consider this and that Brexit should not become a new excuse for austerity because in the case of the last major disruption post 2008, austerity made a bad situation worse. What we need, if there is to be a serious disruption to our economy as a result of Brexit, is increased expenditure in the vulnerable sectors, protection of jobs through State intervention and the boosting of people's incomes. We should not hold back on supporting vulnerable sectors, and workers should not their incomes held back when what we need to do is boost their spending power in order to keep the economy afloat against the possible contraction that could result from Brexit.

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