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

Of course I am committed to how we can maintain and grow the capital investment in our economy, but I do not have a guiding anchor of what it should be as a share of GNI* that supersedes the fact that I had to make decisions regarding how we allocate money that is available to us. The first ordered decision is how much money is available to the country and whether we are going to reduce our surplus to increase more in capital investment. That is the first ordered decision and it is a decision made in conjunction with the Minister for Finance. We cannot reach decisions regarding our capital investment as a share of GNI* without first considering how much money is available to us and how appropriate it is to spend that money in our economy. Having that as a target which supersedes everything else, I believe, is risky. This House, this Government and perhaps the next government will get to a point where our GNI* is not as positive as it is today. If we are going to have a target of investment as a share of GNI*, that opens up the risk of capital investment falling, which is the last thing I believe we should be doing.

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