Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am not anticipating any cutbacks in public services arising from the budget for 2023. I am very well aware of the projections the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council made about the costs the State will be incurring over the years ahead in respect of a whole range of areas, including demographic costs, the cost of Sláintecare and the cost of climate action measures. That will involve the Government making choices. As the new Minister for Finance, I have, as the Deputy knows, inherited the Commission on Taxation and Welfare report, which makes for very interesting reading and sets out a whole series of recommendations. There will be choices to be made regarding both expenditure and taxation over the coming years to ensure our fiscal position is sustainable. While we had a very strong headline surplus in 2022, the underlying position is different because we had buoyant corporate tax receipts. My Department and Revenue have estimated that approximately €10.5 billion of those receipts are potentially windfall in nature and cannot be relied upon into the future.

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