We will return to all that another day. I am just making the point-----

I am making the point respectfully-----

I am making the point respectfully that I sit here and hear wrongful framing and misrepresentation of my party, our manifesto and the general election. I look forward to debating that. As the leader of Fine Gael, I will debate that with the leader of Sinn Féin in due course. I look forward to that opportunity. In relation to the amendment before the House, I do not have a huge amount more to add other than to say that I agree on the need for spending reviews. The Minister, Deputy Chambers, does too. It is something…

It is the viability.

Exactly.

I actually did not, in fairness.

I responded to a mirage.

Thank you so much.

The Deputy should withdraw that.

Withdraw that slur. I did not make----

Yesterday, when we took a financial resolution in this House-----

-----I responded and the record of the House shows the response.

I thank the Deputies Ó Snodaigh and Ó Murchú for their good wishes. I acknowledge the input of Members of this House, including those I just mentioned, on matters concerning the audiovisual sector in recent years, including through the examination at the Committee on Budgetary Oversight. My officials have directly engaged with all relevant representative bodies in the sector, including those representing crew, cast, and producers, to understand the issues affecting the audiovisual sector and to try to chart a pathw…

I thank the Deputies. We have a thriving audiovisual and film sector. Deputy Ó Snodaigh made that point. It is a good thing for our country, but at the same time we also want to make sure it is working well and working well for workers and that workers' rights are always to the fore. We have seen genuine progress in stakeholders engaging with the interim guidelines and I would like a full Irish negotiated agreement. I understand why the Deputies are bringing this up, and they are quite right in bringing it up in th…

The restriction on the amount of loss relief available to NAMA-participating institutions, which was introduced by the National Asset Management Agency Act 2009, as Deputy Doherty correctly recalls, limited the offset of losses carried forward to a maximum of 50% of the trading profits for each accounting period. The cap only affected the timing of the relief; it did not affect the overall quantum of relief, with restricted losses in any given year being carried forward to subsequent years. The only remaining NAMA-…

The advice available to me is that the proposed amendment would possibly have a negative effect on consumers. I accept that is not Deputy Doherty's intent but there is the probability of an increased cost base for the banks, which would be passed on to consumers in the form of higher fees and interest rates on loans or lower deposit rates. Therefore, our view, as per the advice available to me, is that the effect of this, albeit inadvertent, would be negative for consumers in Ireland. That is not something I want t…

That is not true.

The Deputy presumed to deliver my lines. Let me have a go at responding to him. First, as we have discussed, and I understand and acknowledge that this is how the rules of the House work, nobody is about to vote on anything other than an amendment to have a report on mineral oil tax. We need to be honest about the effect of this. No matter what way anybody votes, this is an amendment to request a report on mineral oil tax. It will not help anybody tomorrow in Cavan-Monaghan or elsewhere across the country. Mineral …

It is about the record level of funding for disability and health services, making sure we were able to increase the State pension and ensuring more people qualify for the carer's allowance. People in the Deputies' constituencies benefit from those measures.

No matter how much they wish to reduce the budget to a conversation simply about one element of economic policy in terms of the cost of living, every measure in the budget, right across Departments, is about trying to help people in this country. Indeed, there are many measures in areas Deputies highlighted and where they asked for increased spending. They have seen today, with the publication of the national development plan and revised plans for transport. Tomorrow, in regard to childcare, which the Deputies regu…