Only ‘bits and bobs’ of budget to decide - Noonan
www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/...to-decide-noonan-1.1559142
translate.google.de/...-to-decide-noonan-1.1559142&act=url
Minister tells Fine Gael members NTMA has €25bn backstop in place for bailout exit
Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has suggested there is little work left to do on the budget and that he felt the State already had a financial “backstop” in place for when it exits the international bailout.
Speaking at the Fine Gael national conference in Limerick, the Minister said there were only a few “bit and bobs” left to decide on when the Cabinet meets tomorrow for the last time before he and Minister for Public Expenditure Brendan Howlin outline the budget on Tuesday.
He joked to delegates that they would be “astounded by all the good news I am announcing”.
Mr Noonan said it was his decision to attempt to lower the State’s deficit in 2014 below the 5.1 per cent of GDP target set by the troika as he wanted to ensure fiscal adjustment was “finished by 2015”.
“The longer the adjustment takes, the greater the uncertainty that will hang over the economy,” he said. “And uncertainty will cause people to defer investment and spending decisions, which is the last thing we need now that the recovery in the labour force is taking hold.”
Lowering the deficit to 4.8 per cent, which the Government is targeting through a €2.5 billion adjustment, meant the economy had “a sufficient buffer in the event of international shocks,” Mr Noonan added.
He said the cash balance of some €25 billion held by the National Treasury Management Agency meant the State had “a backstop already in place” for when the bailout was exited.
Looking to the future, Mr Noonan said Ireland cannot go back to “an economy built on the quicksand of a credit and property bubble”.
“This Government is building an economy that is based on real activity such as agriculture, tourism, IT, manufacturing and a normal sized construction sector,” he said.
The national conference is continuing in Limerick today with a number of ministers taking part in the event before returning to Dublin tomorrow for a final Cabinet meeting to lock down the last details of the budget.
Hundreds of party delegates from across the country are attending the conference and the main event today will be an address from Taoiseach Enda Kenny at 8.30pm.
Mr Noonan, Minister for Jobs Richard Bruton, Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar and Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney are this morning participating in a discussion on jobs, recovery and exiting the bailout.
Mr Coveney said the State was entering a phase that could potentially be “a golden age” for Irish farming.
“The enthusiasm surrounding the agri-food sector and the increased investment by our largest food companies will provide sustainable jobs for rural communities in the long term.”
Other sessions will cover subjects such as lifelong learning, health, political reform, justice and the Gathering.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny will deliver an address to delegates later tonight.
Last night, he told the crowd he was confident the budget would help the State to record a primary surplus in 2014 and allow the Government to begin reducing the national debt.
He said the Coalition’s two objectives for the budget were to carry on the work of repairing the public finances and to continue to invest in improving competitiveness and the creation of jobs.
“The €2.5 billion adjustment will deliver a deficit of 4.8 per cent next year and a primary surplus also, which means our debt can start to reduce,” he said.
A primary surplus is achieved when tax income is greater than the day-to-day cost of running the State when excluding interest payments on the national debt.
Mr Kenny spoke positively of the work done by Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton but said more effort was needed in the area, where he said reform was avoided by previous governments, so people would not be condemned to years in the dole queues.
The Taoiseach said every jobseeker had rights and responsibilities but that in the current circumstances facing the State nothing was guaranteed. “If people want to continue to receive benefits then they must engage with services . . . it’s compulsory,” he said. “Work must pay and be seen to pay.”
Zurück
