Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

The economic position our country is in cannot just be dismissed. We must approach budget 2026 with caution. We know if we strip away the windfall nature of many of our tax receipts, there is a potential risk around a deficit position in our economy, which we cannot ignore and the Deputy should not ignore as a finance spokesperson for the main Opposition party.

It is in this context that we are working on the medium-term expenditure strategy and on what targeted, sustained supports we can bring forward and give to families to make public services more affordable and support families when it comes to higher education and the cost of education more generally. It is within this context that we are negotiating budget 2026. I say to families that we will agree an envelope that will be available for changes around taxation, current expenditure and, indeed, the uplift we want to give to capital in the economy.

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