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

It is quite a literary horizon from Discworld to the entrepreneurial state to Capital in the Twenty-First Century. Terry Pratchett, may he rest in peace, wrote about much but I missed his book on European monetary union, if he wrote one. If he did, I am sure it is worth a read.

On the views of Piketty and Mazzucato on the future of Europe and economic policy in relation to it, the degree to which Ireland and Europe are already responding to the issues Mariana Mazzucato has championed about the entrepreneurial state is underestimated. The role of the European Union in co-funding and creating an environment in which we will be the leading exporter of vaccines to the world is the entrepreneurial state in action. It is happening. The work of the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, ISIF, in co-funding innovative companies and having a stake in their future and their returns is the entrepreneurial state in action.

The world of Thomas Piketty is a cold one for a small country in the European Union. I agree with many of his views regarding the change in the composition between public and private capital, a broader assessment of his views has to acknowledge that he has a lot to say about big countries but not much to say about small ones.

I am not in a position to accept the amendment. The fiscal rules of the European Union as currently structured allow and facilitate investment and expenditure in the future. They make the point that the majority of that needs to be funded from taxes that a country can raise. That is a reasonable position for those rules to take. It allows borrowing but if a country wants to invest in its future and its public services, much but not all of that investment should come from the taxes it raises. That is a reasonable balance. The debate the Senator is looking for happens all the time here and in various Oireachtas committees. Given that debate is ongoing, I do not believe a report should be required within this legislation.