Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

One of the lessons of the last crisis was that cuts to public spending and tax increases during a time of recession do not ameliorate the downturn; they make things worse. The fiscal response to date is justified based on the dire situation in which we find ourselves. In terms of the stability programme update, I am concerned that there could be a return to austerity. I know that the projection in the update is on a no-policy-change basis. Can the Minister rule out a return to austerity in the coming years?

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