Seanad debates

Tuesday, 17 December 2002

National Development Finance Agency Bill, 2002: Second Stage.

 

There was much debate during the campaign about the National Development Finance Agency and we produced charts which outlined the position for the next five years. Senator McDowell definitely saw these and the Labour Party produced similar charts dealing with finance, current spending, etc., for the next five years. One of our charts contained information about additional capital projects costing €2 billion a year for the next five years. I subtracted that €2 billion to get the Exchequer borrowing requirement, made an assumption that 50% would not qualify for the general Government balance and then added it back to arrive at the GGB percentage. Senator McDowell will remember this fact, which has been missed by most other people. The increase in current spending was in single digits for the five years outlined. When we announced it after the election everybody became upset.

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