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

I propose to take Questions Nos. 55, 82 and 131 together.

The Deputy has offered a view about my view towards deficits. We ran a deficit last year of €18.5 billion. The deficit this year, expressed as a percentage of our GDP, will be larger than the deficit for last year. I am well aware of the role of deficits and Government borrowing in stepping in to support our economy. Over the past two years when the demands on our economy and society have been so great, I and the Government have run very large deficits for our country to enable a response to the health crisis we faced.

The ESRI commented on a particular issue relating to housing in its report. Housing currently has a budget and funding allocation that is an all-time high for that Department in the amount of €3.1 billion. Total housing expenditure has now more than doubled since 2016 and capital expenditure for that Department has increased nearly fourfold over that period. It is absolutely the case that we must reduce our deficit steadily and over time because of the level of high public debt that our country already has and because we also know that when a country is borrowing a lot of money during more normal times, it can be a source of vulnerability to the country. We are already investing a significant amount of capital into addressing the urgent demands for housing for our citizens. I will engage with the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Michael McGrath, regarding how we increase that investment further in the future.

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