Charlie McCreevy (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)

For the reasons I have outlined, I do not adhere to the principle that we should automatically index bands and allowances. The suggestion has been put forward over the years, but no Minister for Finance of any political persuasion would go along with it. Senator Mansergh has also referred to the reasons for this.

In reply to Senator McDowell's question about the figures for the year, we hope that the offshore accounts investigation will bring in some one-off payments during the year. During the last month the banks issued letters to thousands of customers and it is to be hoped this will bring in additional moneys. Senator Mansergh alluded to the hope, which I share, that we will achieve our Revenue targets this year. I also intend to keep to our spending targets, as in previous years.