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

I thank all colleagues for their contributions and will comment on the different points made. Deputy Michael McGrath is right in what he said in that there are now many other risks apart from the risk of a no-deal Brexit in 2019. What is most likely is that the risk of a no-deal Brexit is there but the timing of it has shifted. We can see from the events over the last day that as the new Government in the United Kingdom takes shape, it reminds us that many of the risks associated with Brexit have not gone away but the timing of them has clearly changed since the budget was introduced.

Deputy Martin Kenny made the point that if we look at where we are with other changes taking place across the world, we can see that while Brexit continues to be a big risk there are other ones also. He pointed to the changes taking place in respect of global trade and the tone of global trade, and is right to acknowledge that. It is also important to acknowledge that, to date, the Irish economic performance and the diversity we now have in our exports mean that despite the shift in tone in respect of global trade, we have still managed to deliver a reasonably strong performance across 2019. While I expect to see an effect on our export performance in 2020 and beyond, there is still every prospect of the Irish economy continuing to be able to grow across the coming years if we are successful in avoiding a no-deal Brexit.

To deal with the three charges Deputy Burton made, the first was a concern if in any way the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund was raided. I would recoil from that language as much as I am sure the Deputy would have recoiled from accusations she had raided private pension funds. Of course, neither claim would be true. What I have done, as she would do and has done, is make choices as to where the country's assets should sit and how we can make better use of them. She asked why would we not use a movement of funding from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund to respond to the great difficulties we have in housing, on which all Deputies have touched. However, we did that by moving nearly €2 billion from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund to seed the Land Development Agency and Home Building Finance Ireland, HBFI. We have moved funding from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund to respond to the great housing challenges we have on which we still need to make much more progress.

Deputy Broughan asked what is our position from a cash balance point of view. At the end of November, the State had €24 billion of reserves available to it, 60% of which are in short-term funding instruments, which is money the State would be able to access quite quickly if it needed it. The Deputy touched on the intellectual rationale for a rainy day fund and went on to make the case that he does not believe this particular one is needed because we should be spending all our resources on addressing the issues we face today. While I understand the need to invest in and respond to all the challenges of today, the balance I am simply trying to strike is to ensure we get ready for the challenges of tomorrow as well. I believe the creation of a fund such as this one would be of help, particularly in dealing with the reliance on corporate tax receipts which we are making significant progress in moving away from by virtue of the surplus we will deliver at the end of this year.

Regarding what Deputies Michael Collins said, as well as what Deputy Mattie McGrath said that touched on what Deputy Burton said, nowhere in my budget day speech did I say that the role of the rainy day fund was to recapitalise banks. I never said that anywhere in it. As I said in a number of Oireachtas debates on this issue, I am certain the rainy day fund would be available to the State if we had to deal with very extreme consequences as a result of a no-deal Brexit happening. It is one of the reasons we have it in place. Many have claimed it would not be available to help us deal with the harsher and more unpredictable consequences if a no-deal Brexit were to occur. I am confident that it would.

I thank all Deputies for their contributions. It appears some parties and Deputies will support the motion because they believe there is a need for a rainy day fund but they also accept the wisdom of not making a deposit to it now. It appears there are other Deputies who would support this motion because they do not believe in having a rainy day fund. In either circumstances, I believe the requirement to bring this motion to the House is the right thing to do. In this circumstance, the right thing to do is also not to make a deposit to it but it is open to the Government and future Governments to decide when to resume it and if they want to make a larger deposit in 2020.

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