Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Sometimes it does make sense to buy properties on the private market, in the instances the Deputy has mentioned, for example, or where a particular type of property may be needed for a large family or a family who has a member with disabilities. What the Deputy has said about corporate tax is also valid. We should not rely on our corporate tax receipts to fund day-to-day spending. Capital is not day-to-day spending. Once we buy something, we do not have to buy it twice. Once something is built, it does not need to be built twice. Many people are pushing the narrative that the Government is somehow being reckless in committing corporate tax receipts to day-to-day spending. In reality we are not doing so. We are massively increasing capital budgets across the board, building new schools, new hospitals and more social housing, and purchasing private assets in some cases. This is not spending that has to be repeated.

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