 Good morning everyone and good morning to the Minister of Public Expenditure and Reform, Michael McGrath. There is no simple and ready road map out of the pandemic. The full consequences of what has happened over the past year in terms of human health and welfare in every dimension remain to be seen. Governments and policymakers across the world have been forced to experiment on a scale never seen before. This is likely to continue in the months and perhaps years ahead in the face of the extreme uncertainty generated by COVID-19. Over the next 20 minutes or so, Minister McGrath will discuss some of the challenges being faced and how the government or wider public sector will contribute to addressing them. We'll then go to a questions and answer session with the audience. You'll be able to join the discussion using the Q&A function on Zoom, which you should see at the bottom of your screens. Feel free to send in your questions and comments throughout the session as they occur, and we'll come to them once Minister McGrath has finished his presentation. A reminder that today's presentation and Q&A are both on the record, before handing over to the Minister a brief biographical note. Michael McGrath was elected to Donald Aaron on his first attempt in 2007 and has been re-elected in every election since then. In his time as a TD, Michael has served on a number of Iraqis committees, including the Finance Committee, the Iraqis Banking Inquiry, the European Affairs Committee, the Public Accounts Committee. As Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, he oversees the implementation of the National Development Plan, drives the programme of public services reform, and has a key role in decisions made across government. Thanks again for joining us this morning, Minister, and over to you. Well, thank you very much, Dan, for the kind introduction and good morning everyone, and I just want to start by thanking your Director General and yourself, Dan, for the invitation here this morning to speak virtually to all of your members and guests, and it's a great honour to have the opportunity of doing so, and I am delighted to join you here, albeit virtually, and I do look forward, hopefully, in the months ahead to taking part in future events in person at North Bridge, Georgia Street. And I want to acknowledge the role of the IIEA at the beginning. Since its inception 30 years ago, you have played a leading role in providing a forum for discussion and debate on the major international issues of the day for sharing ideas and also for shaping policy. And I do want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to your late founder, Brendan Halligan, whose memory I know is being honoured with an essay competition for third level students, a group whose college experiences of course have had to adjust to the restrictions brought about by the pandemic, but I just want to acknowledge the huge role of the late Brendan Halligan in terms of the IIEA and indeed far beyond in relation to his reach. And this morning I would like to just share with you my thoughts on the last 12 months briefly on the challenges we have faced and how we've responded to them both domestically and indeed as part of the international community. And on the challenges but also on the opportunities we face in the coming period. I believe that yesterday's announcements from the government will prove to have been a very important stepping stone on the road back to normality with over 800,000 vaccine doses now having been administered to date. In the second quarter of the year, there will be a very significant ramping up of the programs, which will greatly assist in the opening up of the country, when that is appropriate. It is undoubtedly the case that better days are indeed ahead. In the past year, two critical issues of course have dominated the policy landscape within which we are all operating. The first is COVID of course and its impact on society and on the economy, as well as the consequences that this has had for public expenditure. And the second is Brexit, where our focus was on mitigating the risks of a no trade deal scenario, and is now on deepening our relationship with the post Brexit UK and fostering North-South relations. However, before the pandemic arrived, there were already very significant domestic policy challenges facing us. We will remain and will come back center stage on the policy agenda, I think, quite shortly in the program for government or shared future. We have set out these challenges in terms of missions. For instance, universal health care, addressing climate change, tackling homelessness and delivering affordable home ownership and building stronger and safer communities. As part of Budget 2021, core current expenditure will grow by 3.8 billion euro, or just over 6% compared to the allocation in 2020. And this increase is primarily driven by an additional 1.9 billion for the health sector to address capacity issues and to enable the health service to better meet the needs of our citizens during the pandemic, but also beyond because we're increasing the permanent capacity of our public health system. And this considerable investment in public services is complemented by a new two year pay agreement called building momentum with the public sector. The agreement acknowledges the contribution the public service has made in the most difficult of circumstances during the pandemic. The deal is fair, affordable and sustainable, and it does recognize the huge economic challenges currently facing the country. Outside of core expenditure commitments, there are a number of supports relating to the COVID response that are reflected in departmental estimates. These costs amount to six and a half billion euro and acute 3.2 billion in social protection payments and 1.9 billion to support the health service in response to COVID. So these are direct COVID costs that we have allocated additional budgets to the respective departments. In addition, there is also over 5 billion in contingency funding, which we have prudently set aside and which we're going to need over the next number of months to meet the further expenditure commitments as they arise in the context of COVID. By the end of this year, my department estimates that we will have incurred up to 28 billion euro in direct COVID related expenditure over 2020 and 2021. As a result of these measures, a general government deficit of 19 billion euro or nearly 5.5% of GDP is estimated as the final outturn for 2020. A 21 billion euro swing from 2019 deficit of a similar size is expected again in 2021. It is entirely appropriate that we have acted to support the economy in these circumstances, and this has been greatly assisted by the approach taken by the European Central Bank in its response to the pandemic. The ECB's pandemic emergency purchase program is a truly eye-popping 1.85 trillion euro and stands in sharp contrast to the initial response to the global financial crisis of over a decade ago. This has helped to lower borrowing costs for eurozone countries. As a government, we are committed to restoring the public finances to a sustainable trajectory and ensuring that Ireland does not become an outlier as we emerge from the pandemic period. In this regard, the stability program update will set out some economic and fiscal forecasts for the period ahead, and this will be published next month in April. Some economic statement will offer the opportunity to present a more informed strategic view of the public finances. By that stage, the vaccination program will have advanced very significantly. The impacts of the UK's departure from the single market will be better understood, and a full effect of COVID on the public finances will be more complete. As the Minister for Public Expenditure, I recognise the critical importance of building up our national infrastructure. This year, total expenditure on capital programs will amount to a record 10.8 billion euro. And as set out in the program for government, a review of the national development plan is currently underway. And this will allow the government to take account of the COVID crisis, to reflect priorities in the program for government, and to strengthen the alignment with the national planning framework, and to link with the latest climate action plan and other sectoral policies. In addition, the development of the national economic recovery plan is now very well advanced. As it becomes possible to ease restrictions in response to improving public health, the government will outline how we will help people to return to work and support sectors which have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. And so within the government's policy and rural development, our rural future, published earlier this week, an unparalleled opportunity now exists to realise the objectives of balanced regional and rural development, and to maximise recovery for all parts of the country. As the government has moved to remote or connected working, underpinned by the role of the national broadband plan has the potential to transform the way we live and work. At a European level, of course, the 750 billion euro next generation EU recovery instrument, along with the EU's budget, the MFF for the next seven years, is central to the union's response to the global pandemic. The next generation EU is to help prepare the immediate economic and social damage brought about by the pandemic, and to prepare for a post COVID Europe that is greener, more digital, more resilient and fit to face the future. The government is expected to receive around 900 million euro in grants under the EU's recovery and resilience facility this year and next year, and a further set of grants is to be allocated in 2023, taking account of economic developments between now and then. In order to access this funding, we must develop a national recovery and resilience plan for approval by the European Union, and my department working together with the departments of Antishuk and finance is responsible for preparing this plan with input from other departments as well, and for ensuring coordination across government. At a political level, development of the plan is being overseen by the Cabinet Committee on economic recovery and investment, while Minister Donohue and I also met Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni last week. We set out for the Commissioner our ambitions for the recovery and resilience facility and our priorities for Ireland's plan. We will be continuing that dialogue after Easter, and we'll submit our final plan next month in April. I can confirm that Ireland's plan will have a particular focus on green and digital transition, as well as supporting economic recovery and job creation, like all national plans. It must also strike a balance between reforms and investments and seek to address challenges identified in relevant country specific recommendations received by Ireland in 2019 and last year, which arises part of the European semester process. Briefly to Brexit, I'm sure we all welcomed in broad terms the conclusion of the EU trade and cooperation agreement at the end of last year, and I do want to pay tribute, as I know you have done to the EU's chief negotiator, Michelle Barney for his achievement, as well as for his constant support for Ireland. The trade and cooperation agreement together with withdrawal agreement, including the protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland, means that our key Brexit objectives have been achieved. Specifically, they protect the Good Friday Agreement and the gains of the peace process, including avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland. In circumstances where the UK has decided to leave the EU, it ensures the best possible outcome for trade and the economy, notably tariff and quota free trade with the UK, and the protection of Ireland's place at the heart of the EU single market. But let us not forget, there's no such thing as a good Brexit, these new arrangements are suboptimal, and the full implications of the UK's departure from the EU remain to be fully revealed, but clearly will be and are already significant. It is the government's view that unilateral actions and the protocol are destabilizing and must be avoided. We have always been clear that we want the protocol to be implemented sensitively in a way that impacts as little as possible on communities in Northern Ireland. In regards to East West trade, we need to remember that the TCA does not replicate the status quo. There are now checks and controls for goods moving to and from and through Great Britain, seamless trade unfortunately no longer exists. And this is why the government has been working to prepare for Brexit for several years. Our total Brexit related expenditure since the UK referendum on EU membership is now over a billion euro. There is significantly in infrastructure systems and staffing at Dublin port, Rossler, Europort and Dublin airport to ensure that East West trade can continue with as little disruption as possible. The UK government has announced that it will postpone the introduction of new UK import controls that had been scheduled for April 1st, and July 1st, and these new changes are only postponed however, not cancelled. Exporters must ensure that everyone in the supply chain including UK importer is clear on their roles and responsibilities and can meet them. A range of government supports are available, including training and grants to help businesses to deal with these challenges. The EU's Brexit adjustment reserve represents an important response by the European Union to the challenges posed by the UK's departure from the EU. Ireland has played a leading role in securing support for the reserve at the Marathon European Council meeting in July of last year. It's generally acknowledged that Ireland is the member state most impacted by Brexit. And so we remain we and we expect to be a significant beneficiary of this reserve. For Ireland, relevant areas for assistance from the reserve will include enterprise supports, supports for the agri-food sector, fisheries, reskilling and retraining and infrastructure for the ports and airport. Ireland's view is that the Commission's proposed allocations are appropriate and fair, and that they are in line with the solidarity envisaged by the European Council. We hope that agreement on this proposal can be concluded quickly so that the funding can start to flow. One area of cross-border cooperation I'd like to briefly highlight is the special new Peace Plus program that will build on and continue the important work of successive peace and indirect programs. For more than a quarter of a century now, these programs have made an enormous contribution to cross-border cooperation and remain important drivers of regional development in a cross-border context. More than that, the programs have been a key element of the EU's continuing commitment to the process of peace building and reconciliation and support for the Good Friday Agreement. But we understood that Brexit could not mean the end of this work. Indeed, Brexit made it even more imperative that it continue. So we proposed what has now become Peace Plus, and the new program will address the themes of building peaceful and thriving communities, delivering economic regeneration and transformation, empowering and investing in our young people in the border counties and in Northern Ireland, healthy and inclusive communities, and supporting a sustainable future. And on the 10th of March, the special EU programs body launched, which is a cross-border body, launched a public consultation on the draft framework for the new program. This will run until the 12th of May, and I would encourage anyone interested in the program to take part in that. The final allocation for the program remains to be agreed in discussions between the EU and the UK, and I look forward to that happening as soon as possible, so that the important work supported by Peace Plus can get underway. And all of the indications are that we will have a very substantial fund of the order of one billion euro. And as well as significant funding from Peace Plus, Budget 2021 announced the shared island fund with a planned 500 million euro to be made available out to 2025. The fund provides significant new multi-annual capital funding for investment on a strategic basis in collaborative north-south projects that will support the commitments and objectives of the Good Friday Agreement, and allows us to reach the full potential of the all-island economy. As we move through the pandemic and deal with the consequences of Brexit, we must also look to the future. And that is why the program for government sets out a vision of Ireland at the heart of Europe and global citizenship. The lifetime of this government will see Ireland mark 50 years of EU membership. Our membership has played an immense role in Ireland's social, economic and political development in the intervening five decades. The values of the European Union are our values. In my own department's area of responsibility, Ireland has been a significant beneficiary of cohesion spending, which will be one of the primary instruments available to the Union in the years ahead, as we respond to and move beyond the pandemic. Ireland will receive more than one billion euro in cohesion funding under the 2021 to 27 programming period, and this funding will be spent in areas such as supporting SMEs, re-skilling and upskilling our workforce, and that will be so needed after COVID, and investing in research and development and emerging technologies, and to ensure that we are well placed to take advantage of opportunities arising from a green and a digital Europe. This may will see the launch of the conference in the future of Europe that will conclude during the French presidency of the Council in the first half of 2022. The conference is intended to give citizens a greater voice and greater involvement in the future direction of the Union. It represents an important opportunity to focus on the issues facing the Union, protecting its citizens, their health and their freedoms, developing a strong and vibrant economic base to drive the recovery, promoting green and digital transition, and promoting European interests and values on the world stage, and we all will need to play our role in being advocates for that. The last 12 months have thrown up many challenges for the EU, and it's important the Union learns from those challenges. But we also know that even in difficult times, Ireland has benefited from the solidarity that EU membership has provided. Our membership of the Union has been characterized by a very significant contribution by Irish people to the work of the EU institutions. As we approach our 50th anniversary, it is important that that continues. And that is why my department is working with Minister Thomas Byrne and his team on the development of a new strategy to increase the presence of Irish people in the ranks of the EU institutions. And we also regard this work as a priority. We also need to deepen our relationship with our nearest neighbour, post Brexit. While Brexit provides a new context, the ties between our two islands remain strong and the connections remain close, and we have a shared responsibility to protect the spirit and indeed the letter of the Good Friday Agreement. The bilateral relationships with the United States is also a key target for Ireland as set out in the program for government. Our relationship with the US has built on a deep foundation of ancestral ties and decades of close political diplomatic and economic links. The integration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris marks a new chapter in that relationship. And I'm delighted that in the midst of the pandemic, 2021 has still seen Ireland take its place at the UN Security Council for the fourth time since we joined Ireland in 1955. As a small country, but one with a global diaspora, it is important we contribute to the Security Council's mandate to maintain international peace and security in an often troubled world, and we have so much to offer in that regard. I would like to reiterate that over the last decade or so, Ireland has made a number of significant changes to ensure that the Irish taxation code is in line with new and emerging international standards, as agreed globally. And certainly when I see some critics continue to focus on issues that have been addressed, and that belong to the past, and I would ask people to acknowledge the reforms that we have undertaken as a country in relation to our corporation tax code, and a positive role that we continue to play at OECD and EU level in addressing tax challenges that arise from digitalization and indeed from globalization as well. To put on an optimistic note, the past 12 months have been truly extraordinary. There have been many dark days and there will be more ahead yet as we emerge from this pandemic, but never before in history has mankind united across the globe in such a shared effort to respond to a shared right to take on the virus and to beat it. And never have we been better placed to do that. So I look forward to a time when the crisis will be in the past, and that historians will conclude that we rose to the challenge that we learned the lessons and we emerged in a better place. We are confident that the Irish economy is going to recover. We see a significant recovery getting underway in the second half of this year, and that recovery will gather momentum over the course of 2022 and beyond. This government will do all that it can to support, encourage, facilitate and bring about that economic recovery and help our people to return to work as soon as it is safe to do so. So thank you so much then for the opportunity of setting out those broad opening remarks and I very much look forward to our discussion over the course of the Q&A. Thank you. Thank you for the words about the Institute and our much missed former colleague Brendan Halligan that was appreciated. Lots of questions, lots of issues to get through. The first question that came in was on the National Recovery Plan and the submission of each of the member states of the recovery plans to the European Commission. Thank you for a little more. I know you mentioned focus on green and digital for that plan. Any more thoughts and detail on that and maybe what the dynamic amongst the member states is each of them. There's clearly last year when the idea of an expanded budget was put forward, there were big differences between the member states on whether that should happen. Any more thoughts on how that that's evolving the relationships amongst the member states on an expanded budget and how money is spent money that's raised by the EU institutions is spent by national governments. Sure, thanks Dan. So in Ireland's context, it is a relatively modest amount of money in the way that it was originally agreed it is anchored in 2018 prices in 2018 prices. It is 853 million euro in tranche one, and that's over 900 million euro in today's terms. And in overall terms we expect to receive close to a billion euro under the recovery and resilience facility in the form of grants. And because this is money coming from the European Union, it is underpinned of course by regulations and is subject to all of the normal checks and controls that are that relate to EU spending. There is a requirement for at least 37% of the proposals to relate to the digital space and in relation to the green it's 37 and 20% respectively in relation to green and digital. And also, you have to ensure that there's a balance between reforms and investments. And as you would expect the European Commission to avail of the opportunity also to seek progress in relation to country specific recommendations for the different member states. So we have engaged internally within government with all of the government departments at this point and they've made various proposals to us. We have distilled those down into a defined set of projects at this point, and we have shared those with the European Commission, and we're receiving their feedback, and we will finalize that and make the final submission in the month of April. So in the digital space for example, we're very keen to use the fund to accelerate the digitalization of public services. And we've seen a lot of progress in that regard in recent times. We see great opportunity in the eHealth space, for example, as we move to implements launcher care and modernize our health system. There are great opportunities to invest in IT, to invest in eHealth, and that will be a key part of it as well. In relation to green transition, there are a range of important projects there that are being put forward, including in relation to sustainable transport and active travel in relation to our rail system, our bus system, in relation to the retrofitting of public buildings for example. So a lot of transformative projects in that space and also in relation to research, science and innovation, because we're very keen on the recovery aspect of the new national recovery and resilience plan. So there will be significant allocation in the area of reskilling and upskilling and making sure that we continue to promote the research and innovation agenda in line with the setting up of that new government department, of course, last year. So we expect to conclude our engagement with the European Commission shortly. They are, as you would expect, placing a keen emphasis on reforms. And for some other Eurozone countries, of course the quantity of funding is much, much greater than what Ireland is getting, but nonetheless the EU is applying the same standard in respect of their engagement with all countries. So the work is going well. It will make an important contribution. But it is in the context of, for example, when you compare it to our national development plan, where this year we have funding of almost 11 billion in the public capital programme. So I think the scale of it should be seen in that context. It will make a contribution. We will use it to drive some of the reforms in the green and digital space in particular. So just to follow up on that, your sense of how the other member states will look at all of the other member states plans. Do you foresee discord in that area? We are getting feedback on the exchanges and the engagement between the Commission and other member states and because the quantum of money being made available by way of grants to some member states is very large in the tens of billions of Euro. As you would expect, the EU is looking for structural reforms and there isn't always a great welcome in member states for structural reforms to be implemented. And of course, in Ireland's case, there are country specific recommendations in the reform space as well, but a number of those are already reflected in the programme for government and are already being implemented in the course of government work. Others are under examination by different commissions and review bodies. So I think you will see the EU understandably use the opportunity to bring forward reforms in different countries. But in Ireland's case, we have demonstrated already that we're making very significant progress on our country specific recommendations through the emphasis, for example, on a public house building programme on affordable housing and indeed in so many areas where if you look at our 2019 and 2020 CSRs, we believe that the new programme for government takes many of those boxes and if you take the whole climate action agenda, for example, with the new legislation, the new climate action plan, a very ambitious legally binding targets now than I think Ireland has demonstrated its commitment to implementing the reforms that are set out in the CSRs. On that very topic, the ambassador of the Netherlands, Adrian Palme asks, says, thank you for your broad overview minister. His question is, which of the country specific recommendations will be the most difficult, painful to include in the government's proposals to the commission? Well, it's not possible to address all of the country specific recommendations in the submission, because if you look at the requirements that we have to comply with in the context of this fund, we have the overall emphasis on green, on digital, on investments and on reforms. And then there are multiple pillars as well within that that you have to seek to address. And then we have a whole range of country specific recommendations. And we want to have quite a small number of projects that will be impactful. If we spread, you know, less than a billion euro across a very large number of projects, then the impact will be greatly diluted. And I think we want to use this fund on a relatively small number of projects so that the impact can be meaningful and measurable. So when we look at our country specific recommendations, they have one, for example, in relation to pension reform. And we know that that was a huge issue in the general election last year, but we have been able to show the commission that we have set up a pension commission now, which is going to report at the end of the next quarter, actually, and public consultation, as you know, has now closed and they will make their analysis available to us and the government will make decisions based on that. And similarly in relation to taxation reform, which is also a country specific recommendation. As you know, Mr Donner who has public published an update to Ireland's roadmap in relation to cooperation tax, and we've implemented so many reforms in recent years, and continue to engage in a very positive manner. And so we're playing a constructive part in relation to those discussions, and we think that the best way to address that issue is in a multilateral forum through agreement at the OECD. Very many of the CSRs then are actually being addressed in the context of the program for government, which has been adopted measures brought forward in budget 2021. So, and this is the point we would have made to Commissioner Gentiloni last week that in the context of the quantum of funding we have, you know, we can only do so much in relation to the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. We do have dozens and dozens of projects, and getting very small amounts of money that make little or no tangible difference we wanted to be impactful, and to make a difference. But we will clearly demonstrate to the Commission, the progress that we're making on our country specific recommendations, while at the same time addressing the primary objective of the recovery and resilience plan which is about recovery from with the emphasis on green, on digital, on reforms, on investments. So it is about an overall balance, but we're confident that we will have a final plan that meets the requirements of the Commission, and it will ultimately be approved and we can draw down the funding. You raised the issue of cooperation tax both just now and in your, in your presentation and detected maybe a little bit of exasperation in terms of other member states not acknowledging some of the changes that have been brought in. In general, how would you characterize the views of other member states on our corporation tax regime and how they've changed over time how those views have changed. In other words, has it become less of an issue has it become more of an issue or does it remain particularly for some member states, an issue for them, and more specifically, if that multilateral BEPS process for global corporation tax reform doesn't work out. So if a member states wants action at an EU level, if it fails, what are your thoughts on that if the BEPS process doesn't deliver an outcome. Well, first of all, I think it's important to say that the certainty that this government and now all of the main political parties in Ireland have adopted in relation to our corporation tax rate is a really valuable tool in our inward investment and the 12 and a half percent corporation tax rate is here to stay. It is the bedrock of our foreign direct investment strategy, alongside all of the other elements, including very well educated labor force continued investment in research and development commitment to the European Union, and so many other aspects of that overall offering. And, you know, I think if we're to be honest, Ireland is viewed with a degree of envy across the European Union, because of the remarkable success, and we continue to have in foreign direct investment. And, you know, we strongly argue that that is because of the full range of elements in the offering that we provide. We have an open and transparent corporation tax code, which is embedded in legislation, and we are committed to playing our part in the international examination of how we can improve the taxation of digital companies it is our strong preference that it would be done through and I think the renewed commitment of the US administration now under President Biden to that process is particularly welcome. In the absence of that happening, then it is of course possible that individual member states perhaps the enhanced cooperation instrument would seek to proceed, but I think that would would be less effective than countries acting collaboratively so all of the indications are that there is a degree of confidence that agreement would now be reached at the OECD in the middle of this year. It will represent the challenge for Ireland, and as you know we have already quantified what the potential impact could be on our corporation tax receipts of some changes that might be expanded, but nonetheless, it is still in Ireland's interests that an agreement would emerge from that process. And that is why Minister Donohue, his officials are investing a lot of time and resources in playing a positive role in bringing about those changes which I think would be in everyone's interest overall because if individual countries see to go off and do their own thing, I think it will be easier for large corporates to work around that. It's much more difficult for them to work around a cohesive collective action on a truly global scale, and I think only the OECD offers the potential to do that so we're very much hopeful that it will work. So on the subject of foreign direct investment and the crucial role it plays in the Irish economy, do you see a possibility of the working from home phenomenon being a threat to foreign direct investment? I think that the Irish economy is just as you mentioned, there could be opportunities for regions, particularly rural regions to take advantage of the change in work practices. Equally could corporations decide they don't need to have as large, these large homes that have been based in Ireland and that could actually result in less multinational activity in Ireland. I think it is an evolving issue and it is one that we will have to carefully monitor the impact of COVID and the likely emerging hybrid form of working that we're going to see post COVID is going to have an impact on so many levels. Domestically, I think it will have an impact on where people are working, it has the potential to provide a fill up to the efforts at balanced regional development, allowing more people to work in towns and villages, whether it be in remote working hubs in communities are indeed in their own homes. So there's very significant potential there and the national broadband plan is now very much up and running. We've asked national broadband Ireland to seek to explore all of the avenues for accelerating that in the context of the international investment environment. It is also a factor. We want companies who invest in Ireland to demonstrate a clear commitment to this country by having the strongest possible presence in Ireland with physical facilities and with key decision makers operating in our jurisdiction. It may well be the case of course that for some of them, the ability to share their time is also going to be a feature in relation to being in Ireland for some of the time and working from abroad. So it is an issue that we will need to monitor, but in so far as possible, you know, we want the key decision makers to be based here, because I think that embeds and secures investment for the long term, because we all know that when you have the central decision makers in an organization rooted in this country, then it gives us a great advantage when it comes to investment decisions. And I think it demonstrates a commitment from those companies to Ireland as well. And so it is an issue that both the idea and of course the revenue in the context of the workload of our taxation system will be monitoring on an ongoing basis, and we'll be working with all of the stakeholders the American Chamber, and indeed others to see what role we can play as a government to bring about the greatest commitment possible to keep people basing themselves in Ireland for as much of their time as is possible. I might ask you about the hot topic of strategic autonomy in the EU in a while but just before that, two specific questions on the Brexit adjustment reserve. Anne Lannigan asks about business supports in that in the adjustment reserve, and the Belgian Ambassador Pierre-Emmanuel de Gaulle asks, let me read this one. Can you tell us more about the government's position with regard to the compromise these presidency that would actually reduce the allocation to countries most affected by Brexit. What do you use on the way ahead in order to rapidly reach a decision, so two on the Brexit reserve. Yeah, well, we believe that the allocation key proposed by the Commission late last year represents a fair and a balanced allocation of what is a limited resource. It is widely accepted that Ireland is the country most impacted by Brexit, and that is why in those proposals Ireland is in line to receive about 25% of launch one, so in the region of a billion euro, and we are seeking to defend that proposed allocation, because we think it is the fairest way of doing it, and also it should be seen alongside the agreement that Ireland signed up to in the context of the recovery and resilience facility, because of course there will be many who argue that that Ireland could have received more under that we have supported the rights of other member states to receive large allocations under the recovery and resilience facility, because of the allocation key that was agreed in with respect to economic performance and how that inputs into the formula. And similarly when it comes to the Brexit adjustment reserve. We do not support changes that have been proposed, because Ireland is the most impacted country, and that brings me to the second question about enterprise supports. There will be scope for enterprise supports in the context of the Brexit adjustment reserve. It will be, it will be targeting the sectors that are the most impacted. The most impacted sector is of course the fishery sector, because of the change in the quotas arising from the deal, but also the wider food sector and exporters who are impacted by non tariff barriers. So, we are working through different scenarios and will be agreeing a package. Once we have certainty about what the allocation is for Ireland, we will be publishing details of the enterprise supports and my department is working with the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine and also of course the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment in relation to the specific details of those allocations, but we can confirm those until we know exactly what we're going to get but we are operating at the moment on the basis of the allocations proposed by the European Commission, which we hope now are going to be approved by member states, so that we can all begin to benefit from this funding as quickly as possible. So, with respect to business supports and any sort of timeframe you have in mind about phasing them out. Particularly in terms of, you know, if the new normal after provided the vaccines work means there's just less demand for hospitality conference just those sort of consumer facing businesses. What are the decisions to make about phasing out and accepting that not every business will survive. And so that those supports are going to have to be withdrawn and possibly quite quickly. Yeah well I'd like to acknowledge that any phasing out of the supports will be difficult and it will happen in the future but it will be done in a careful and a gradual way. And I believe that all of the supports currently in place will remain there at the current rates for another full quarter up to the end of June and well in advance of the end of quarter to we will signal what our plan is for beyond that because we do recognize just how valuable those costs are and any rapid or sudden reduction or removal of those supports would simply result in a lot of the employees currently being paid in part through the employment wage subsidy scheme, being let go on transferring and so we need to think very carefully about that transition and ensure that as we taper off the supports over time that is done in a very sensitive and gradual manner. I think it is too early to write off certain sectors and certain businesses, I think businesses that were viable up to a year ago deserve the benefit of the doubt. Undoubtedly our experience of covert over the last 12 months, we'll have accelerated certain changes and certain changes in consumption patterns in the way that we purchase goods and services. And I think that picture is evolving and will reveal itself further over the months ahead. And what we outlined yesterday I think is a sensible roadmap for the gradual reopening of the country over the months ahead. I do think that by by mid summer certainly by getting to July. We will have the prospect of a summer that was very similar to last year where we had a lot of freedoms and we were able to to spend time in different parts of the country and the veil of hospitality and do all of the things that people like to do. We've a journey to get there. And that's why it has to be gradual and it has to be very carefully managed. So I think that some of the supports that we have in place will be with us for some time, and perhaps in a different manner. One of the key issues that has been raised with us is the fact that depending on what side of to turn over threshold you fall you either either get the full benefit of the support, or you don't get any support at all. The employment wage subsidy scheme for example the requirement for a 30% reduction and turnover. If you're on the wrong side of that, then you don't get any support so we do need to consider introducing a level of granularity and tiering to the manner in which those supports are forward, similarly in relation to the Chris scheme. And I think that that's the cover restriction support scheme. So I think that as we move into the future phases. I think it will involve a degree of further sophistication and those supports that it won't be an all or nothing basis that you will be gradually weaned off those supports in line with the performance of your business and we're working through a range of scenarios now to try to bring that about but it is in the period ahead. We've committed to maintain the supports to the end of June. There'll be no cliff edge at that point, and well before the end of June will signal what our plan is for quarter three and beyond. A wider question on public expenditure from Dermato Lirio, good body stock workers, quote, as minister responsible, how do you ensure that the temporary spending measures introduced during the pandemic remain temporary and do not become permanent the context of pressure for ministers to attain departmental spending levels over the coming years. That is going to be a key part of our work and I would point to the way that we structured the budget. We built a clear separation between core spending and COVID spending, and we allocated funding accordingly to different government departments. There's very much a focus on core, which is the normal budgetary allocations, and then the COVID allocations, which are distinct and separate. And then of course we held back the five and a half billion or so in the context of the contingency fund and the deployment of those funds is very much in the context of COVID. Having said all of that, I don't for a moment underestimate the ability of colleagues to make a case for the retention of all the crisis spending in a non crisis period. But in broad terms, the additional spending that we have put in place for COVID is far a COVID environment, and we will have to revert to more normal levels of spending over time in line with the evolving public health situation. And I think the way that we have structured the budget and the way that those additional expenditures have been conveyed to stakeholders to the recipients and beneficiaries does make that ultimate separation easier, but not easy nonetheless. So that is going to be a job of work into the future. And it's too early for that right now because we're still in the pandemic, but we do have, you know, an overall envelope this year of the order of 88 billion euro. And if you consider it going into last year, the expected expenditure was of the order of 70 billion, then it gives you just an overall sense of the impact of COVID. And so Dermot's question is, is spot on. And that is going to be a key focus of my department. And I think the way that we have structurally separated that spending in its presentation is a very important contribution to doing that. The general secretary of the trade union for Sir Kevin Kalman asks quote, surely the crucial thing is that the country specific recommendations for 2020 marked a major change from previous ones in the life of the pandemic experience, pointing to the need to build resilience. So the minister agreed that we cannot simply go back to business as usual when we come through this irrespective of the fund, the 2020 country specific recommendations could surely remain priorities for government. Yes, I think that's an excellent question and a point made by Kevin there. And, you know, I think that that particular country specific recommendation that he's referring to just underlines in stark contrast the approach that the EU is advocating to this crisis, compared to the financial crisis of over a decade ago, and the decisions that have been made so far at European level to suspend in a temporary manner, the fiscal framework to set out the overall strategy for continuing with fiscal crisis, while the pandemic is here and until there is clear evidence of recovery, I think is a demonstration of a change in the thinking. And of course that is most acutely underlined by the change in the approach of the European Central Bank. Welcome. Though of course that will evolve over time, as we begin to see the pandemic in the rear view mirror, but one of the key recommendations there in the CSR that Kevin touched on is about building resilience in our public health system. And that is very much aligned with government policy. That is why, you know, the substantial portion of the increase in spending in 2021 is about building up capacity in a permanent way in our public health system that needed to be done anyway. We would accept that COVID has underlined the imperative of doing it. And so we do need to increase bed capacity, both in our acute hospital system critical care capacity, and we need to ensure, of course, and it will always be a focus of this department to provide value for money, that additional money is accompanied by reforms, and that we deliver better outcomes. So we want to implement slant to care, building up resilience in our public health system is a key country specific in which the government is absolutely committed to implementing. And so I welcome the broad change in the approach at an EU level in relation to continuing with supports but I don't for a moment assume that that will continue indefinitely because it won't. And that's why we need to have our house in order and put in place the reforms, so that we are getting better value for money, so that we are, for example, delivering infrastructure projects in a more efficient way, and that we are reducing risk of significant overruns. That's why, for example, I have reformed the project Ireland delivery board by bringing in more external people, and there will be an open competitive process for that. That's why I'm setting up a major projects advisory group as well to help us deliver now on the ambitions of the National Development Plan, because we're putting a lot of money behind the public capital investment program. That's going to be at the heart of our recovery, but accompanying that then has to be really reform and the drive to ensure we get value for money. A question from a student Donald McKenney, your views on the EU candidate trade deal. That's a specific one. And coming back to the issue of other globalization matters, the move towards so-called strategic autonomy in the EU. Some of the smaller member states are a little skeptical about the idea and that it could be, it could be of greater benefit to larger member states. Do you have any thoughts on where that discussion on strategic autonomy is going and how it could impact Ireland. Well, first of all, in relation to the CETA, the Canada-Europe Trade Agreement, I very much support it. I mean, we are a country that is probably the single biggest beneficiary of an open trading environment. It's a small economy operating within the global economy where we have performed incredibly well in relation to international exports, even right through the pandemic. So I think that the trade agreement offers significant potential for Ireland to continue to develop its business links, to develop its export markets. And of course, of the concerns that have been expressed particularly around the investor court instrument. But I am satisfied having looked at the detail of that, that in overall terms, disagreement is to Ireland's benefit. And I think it's something that we should embrace. It could be a country that is promoting international trade, breaking down barriers, opening up new markets and strengthening existing markets for Irish businesses. That is the cornerstone of Ireland's enterprise strategy. And I think we need to be seen to be a strong advocate for such international trade agreements. In addition to the strategic autonomy issue across the European Union, I don't have any strong views on that Dan, I think it's early days it will take time to see where countries wish to develop that. But while the European Union has rightly been the subject of some criticism in relation to the vaccination program in the context of COVID. I think the counterfactual is difficult to assess if all individual countries, for example, had gone about trying to strike individual deals and advanced purchase agreements with these global multinational pharmaceutical companies. We really don't know what the outcome would be. And it is far from certain that the outcome would have been better. And when I look at Ireland as a country now on this particular issue, having secured a supply pipeline of 18 and a half million doses of a range of vaccines with now supply coming in quite a steady manner with the supply and quarter to being three times higher than the supply in quarter one that I think it underlines and shows the strength for a country like Ireland of being at the heart of the European Union. The EU, I think, needs to do what it does in a better way. It needs to try to improve and continue to embrace reforms. But I don't think that individual countries going off doing their own thing and developing that further is the way to go. There is no clear delineation at the moment between national competencies and EU competencies, and I think the focus should be on reforms, improving the way decisions are made, having more accountability and transparency in the way the European Union operates, rather than giving a greater autonomy to member states, particularly in areas where the EU has a lot of expertise, because when you look at the global challenges that we're going to have to face, whether it be security, the migration crisis, cyber security, and of course climate change, we have to be tackling those issues together. So for me, multilateralism, the role of the European Union, the strength of the collective of countries working together is the best way to tackle all of those issues. And I think the debate around strategic autonomy needs to be seen in that context. We don't want to be heading down the road of isolationism. The European Union project has been a fantastic project. It has been transformative for Ireland, and I think we should be leading the debate and the argument for developing the union even further. Thanks very much. Mr. Thanks. We've hit 10 o'clock run out of time. Let me apologize to all the people whose questions I couldn't, we couldn't have time to get to you. But most importantly, thanks for taking the time to join us this morning, give us an hour of your time, a very busy time. I think it was wide ranging and Frank so we thank you for that and leads me to simply wish you and everyone here today, a good rest of the day, and look forward to seeing everyone soon, hopefully in person. Thanks again. Thanks, everyone.