Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

At the time of the budget, the Parliamentary Budget Office in the Oireachtas and the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council both calculated that an additional €7 billion per year is needed to meet inflationary costs and allow public services just to stand still. They calculated that the bottom line with regard to the budget was that just €2.2 billion was allocated for that purpose. That obviously leaves a huge shortfall. The implications are that as the year goes on, we will see inevitable cutbacks in key public services. Does the Minister accept the figures of both of those bodies? Does he have proposals for revenue raising to at least make up that shortfall so those services can stand still, although they will arguably need more?

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