Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 130: To ask the Minister for Finance the level of the general Government deficit if Ireland was to meet the 0.5% structural deficit in 2016 assuming that the general Government deficit level of 3% was met in 2015 as per the EU-IMF programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6671/12]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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As part of the December 2010 ECOFIN Council recommendations to Ireland under the Excessive Deficit Procedure, Ireland is required to reduce its actual General Government deficit to below 3 per cent of GDP by 2015. The focus of Government at present is on adhering to the 8.6 per cent of GDP deficit target set for 2012 as well as on reducing the deficit to below 3 per cent of GDP by 2015, as we are committed to. It is vitally important that we restore sustainability to the public finances as soon as we can, bearing in mind the need to foster economic growth. The Intergovernmental Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union agreed last week requires us to achieve a balanced budget in structural terms, in other words after adjustment for the impact of the economic cycle on the budgetary position. This requirement will be deemed as respected if a Member State's structural balance is at its so-called Medium Term Objective, with a lower limit for the structural balance of -0.5 per cent of GDP (except in exceptional cases for countries with inter alia very low debt). The timeframe for convergence towards the MTO will be proposed by the Commission for each Member State taking into account country-specific sustainability.

At this point in time, it would be speculative to put forward a possible timeline for reaching the structural deficit of 0.5 per cent of GDP and what the corresponding actual General Government deficit might be at that point.