Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We have no plans for a supplementary budget or an emergency budget. The budget was framed on there being a no-deal Brexit, with the economy growing by only 0.7% next year as opposed to 5.5%, which was the rate this year. Since this is the budget that protects Ireland from the worst consequences of no deal, there will be no need for a supplementary budget or an emergency budget next year.

The Deputy is correct that the Labour Party and Fine Gael have different approaches to the economy. We decided to base this budget on there being no deal. We believe that was the right approach. Fianna Fáil, our confidence and supply agreement partners, agree. The Labour Party did something different in its alternative budget proposal, which I have to hand; it assumed there would be a deal. All its numbers and projections assume there will be a deal. The party promises welfare increases in its alternative budget but the truth is that, if there were no deal, they would have to be taken back in a few months. This is exactly the policy we wanted to avoid because we saw what happened in 2010. The then Government announced a giveaway budget, cut taxes, increased social welfare and the minimum wage and did all those things we all want to do and then took it all back again six months later after the economic shock. The Labour Party would pursue the policy of 2010, which was so wrong and mistaken. We do not want to do that. There is a serious risk of a major economic shock to our country in a few weeks. The Tánaiste and I are working harder than anyone else to avoid that shock but we had to do the right thing with this budget. The right thing was to base it on the assumption that we will not have a deal. What the Labour Party did was wrong. All its numbers assume there will be a deal. It promised increases in welfare and expenditure but it would have to take all of them back. That was the approach taken by Fianna Fáil and the Green Party in 2010. It was wrong. While Fianna Fáil seems to have learned from that mistake in 2010, the Labour Party has not. That is disappointing.

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