Kieran O'Donnell (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy D'Arcy, to the House. I very much welcome this Bill. I was just recalling when this came up for discussion. I would have looked for such a rainy day fund in 2008 or 2009. Therefore, it is not a new concept. However, it is a welcome concept. The fact that it is now happening and we are able to afford to pay money into a rainy-day fund shows that the state of the economy has improved considerably in recent years and we are now back to the finances being in a sound position and able to provide for the so-called "rainy day".

There are a few observations I wanted to make. The Minister of State speaks about the management and control, keeping the accounts and whatever. A question I want to ask concerns the level of funds that will be kept in liquid form. For example, there was the National Pensions Reserve Fund. Will the fund's criteria be along those lines that we need to hold a certain level of liquidity? Once the NTMA takes over management of the fund, what level of liquidity will be required to be maintained?

If the Government reaches a situation where there is a crisis and the funding must be availed of, let us say, the Government has €8 billion in the fund and we reach a situation where there is a major financial disaster and the money has to be used, are there any measures within the Bill or being looked at to expedite replenishment of the fund when we reach a point at which we are back in a sound financial position? What will the criteria be? The fund will be built between 2019 and 2023.

I very much support the measure that applies if we have windfall gains. These are the two aspects I want to ask about. I suppose my first question is, will the rainy-day fund be included in the calculation of the national debt? Will it have a netting effect and reduce the national debt? If we have €8 billion, will it count against the gross national debt? Second, if we have a windfall tax, how would the Minister decide on whether that should be used to reduce the national debt level or paid into the rainy-day fund? What criteria will be used to determine that decision?

I note in the Bill that if one were to draw down money from the fund, it would have to come from a proposal from the Minister. If there were a situation where someone other than the Minister decided to put a motion down in the Dáil for the fund to be accessed and that particular measure found support in the House, what would be its legal status vis-à-visthe Minister in his capacity in terms of controlling the fund? I suppose those are the details.

We need to enact this legislation as quickly as possible. It is something that should be used, as it is described, for a rainy day. It is being kept in broad strokes but irrespective of who is in government, will the Minister of State be defining the type of criteria that will be used to determine the level of contingency that might arise, for instance, a natural disaster or putting counter-cyclical measures in place, or does he believe it is inappropriate to include such a measure and he must leave it at the discretion of the Minister for Finance and Government of the day to make that decision in terms of the fund?

I welcome the Bill. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy D'Arcy, for his work on this Bill and many other measures, and for coming before the House in a regular fashion and dealing with the aspects. I wish it fair passage. However, when it comes to it, and the fund is up and running, it is important that there would be some element of Government guidelines on how one defines contingency, how one defines, for example, a disaster, when one can make counter-cyclical payments out of the fund, and what its status is vis-à-visa motion put down by the Dáil. It is extremely important that it is structured in a way that, if need be, it can be accessed quickly.

This fund is not necessarily about making huge investment returns. It is about having a fund in place that, if we reach a situation where there is a crisis point, we can access it to spend in the best interests of Ireland.