Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In case the Minister does not know, these are Supplementary Estimates for public services to authorise the relevant Departments to spend more than was budgeted for in budget 2019. My party will be abstaining on the motion. Fine Gael likes to tell itself and the country that it is responsible in its management of the public finances, but the facts are clear and they tell a much different story. This year, the Government has gone over budget to the tune of nearly €634 million. Since 2012, Fine Gael has overspent on budgets by a total of some €6.9 billion. In 2018, the Department of Health alone needed an extra €654; this year, it has gone over budget by €330 million. The Fiscal Advisory Council gave a stark warning recently regarding the Government's handling of the public finances, observing that without the temporary element of corporation tax receipts, Ireland would potentially be in breach of the fiscal rules. The council's report further states that the Government has allowed spending to drift upwards in recent years, especially in 2018.

All of this overspending is being paid for by an explosion in corporation tax, which we all know is temporary in nature. Of the €11 billion or so taken in corporation tax, 45% comes from just ten multinational groups. If those companies leave the State, there will be a massive hole in the public finances. The Taoiseach has told us that this hole would be filled by property-related taxes such as stamp duty. Have we learned nothing from the past? It is extraordinary that the Taoiseach seems to be suggesting that a house construction boom may be necessary to plug the hole in the public finances that a fall-off in corporation tax would leave. The Government does not seem to understand that making permanent expenditure commitments on the back of receipts that may prove temporary leaves us extremely exposed. That applies to stamp duty receipts as it does to corporation tax from multinationals. In addition, we have seen massive overspends on projects such as the national children's hospital and the national broadband plan.

Fine Gael is adept at throwing accusations at Fianna Fáil. It is past time that Members opposite had a good luck in the mirror and recognised that they must investigate the risks they are taking as a consequence of their approach to managing the public finances. The Government must address the sorry slide that has continued over the past eight to nine years.

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