Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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114. To ask the Minister for Finance if Ireland will receive an updated Medium Term Objective, MTO, in 2021; if not, when a new MTO will be applied to Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14980/19]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Medium-Term Objective (MTO) is the cornerstone of the preventive arm of the Stability and Growth Pact, the EU's fiscal framework within which the Irish public finances are assessed. The European Commission sets minimum MTOs for each Member State every three years taking account of new information including changes in projected ageing costs. Member States subsequently set their own MTOs, respecting or complying with the Commission’s ‘minimum’ anchor. Ireland's current minimum MTO of a structural deficit of 0.5 per cent of GDP covers the period from 2017 to 2019. The Commission are currently working to produce updated minimum MTOs for the period covering the 2020-2022 budgetary cycle.  However, as part of our obligations through the Fiscal Compact Treaty, the lower limit of the MTO is set at a structural deficit of 0.5% of GDP. In line with the above, Ireland’s MTO for 2020 and beyond will be set out in the forthcoming 2019 Stability Programme Update.