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

I listened to the debate this evening and remained for it, as I should. This Finance Bill is within a context that is very different from the one introduced a year ago. While we are correct to continue to have a sense of anxiety and a focus on the current level of Covid and how we can reduce it further, this is also a health context that is fundamentally different from a year ago due to a vaccination programme that was implemented exceptionally by our public health professionals, which this Government oversaw and put in place, and invested the resources in it for it to work. The health and economic benefits of that are real.

While we still stand in an uncertain place, the economy is nonetheless in a very different place from where it was a year ago. Far fewer people are on the pandemic unemployment payment and many businesses are open with the confident expectation that they will be able to stay open in the future. We introduced economic supports a year ago, knowing that they were going to be tested. A year later, we can say that they have worked. This Finance Bill continues that work and I commend it to the House.

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