Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

We know why the self-imposed general expenditure rule was imposed last year, that is, to take account of the high inflationary environment. The reality is that, for much of this year, inflation will be above that 5% target in terms of the Government's self-imposed expenditure rule. The Minister of State will appreciate the context of the macroeconomic success that this country is experiencing, the corporation tax surplus and, indeed, the strong performance of other tax heads. Given we have had a decade of lost investment in this country and given the context of a need for investment in public services that are playing catch-up, and in a situation where we have 12,000 people homeless and we arguably require 5,000 additional hospital beds to cater for a growing and ageing population over the next decade, the idea that we would ourselves limit expenditure is farcical, frankly, and does not take account of the needs of society. I am assuming, from what I have heard from the Minister of State this morning that the Government is preparing in the context of budget 2024 to relax that expenditure rule again, at least for this year and next.

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