Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I concur, as somebody who has served in government, not as long as the Taoiseach but more recently. This will not work. There will be confusion all over the place. There is no consistency. The Taoiseach will have competition between committees in respect of funding and actions and it is a recipe for disaster.

I asked a number of questions which the Taoiseach ignored regarding young people and economic models, particularly in relation to stimulus funding being given out and the quid pro quobeing respecting the architecture of the State, sectoral agreements on wages, etc. The Taoiseach will not answer regarding the size of the stimulus package. I do not know whether he knows. Is a quantum agreed at this point or not? The Taoiseach might confirm that a quantum is agreed, if he will not tell me the amount.

With regard to capital funding under the stimulus package, in addition to shovel-ready projects, I encourage the Taoiseach to support tourism projects because in my experience this worked. Tourism is taking a massive hit this year. This is a way of getting funding into the regions and the tourism areas. I refer to small capital projects where funding is being spent to improve products and facilities which, hopefully, will help them to come back next year. There are a raft of them left over that should be used.

There is much talk about targeted VAT cuts. I have a different opinion on this. What is the Government's current thinking on that? If there were changes, there would have to be some form of finance Bill in conjunction with it.

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