Public Expenditure Policy
Dail Éireann — 2021-06-17
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Michael McGrath (FF), Cork South-Central

As the Deputy said, fiscal rules are being reviewed. They have been suspended at the current time in the European Union. However, that will not last indefinitely. We may well see a different framework of fiscal rules emerging from the crisis. There is scope to account for capital in a different way, given its importance to our economy.
It is important to underline the context that capital expenditure, at almost €11 billion this year, has increased significantly. Four years ago, it was approximately €5 billion. We face considerable pressures in housing but also other areas such as climate action measures, transport, education, health infrastructure and so on. We will see an elevated level of capital expenditure maintained and built upon over the course of the lifetime of the Government and the new national development plan.
There are capacity constraints as well. It should be pointed out that the ESRI has also said that, in light of all of the expenditure commitments entered into with Covid, there may be a need to increase taxes. We are committed to an ambitious national development plan. We have prioritised investment in housing in particular in all the decisions we have made to date.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2021-06-17/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:49:24+00:00
Sitting date: 2021-06-17