Labour is calling on Fianna Fail to "come to their senses" and support the investment urgently needed for housing, hospitals and schools

Spokesperson for Public Expenditure, Seán Sherlock TD, welcomed reports that the so-called "rainy day fund" may yet be shelved in favour of increased spending on capital infrastructure.

Deputy Sherlock said: "The Labour Party has long been calling on the Government to scrap the so-called rainy day fund and instead use that money for capital spending , which this country so desperately needs.

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"The argument that we would effectively put this money on deposit as the economy recovers, and while we see infrastructure bottlenecks emerging in areas like transport and housing, and hospitals and schools, simply doesn’t stack up.

"We have seen Fianna Fáil suggest that they might not facilitate this sensible idea having been silent on this point for some time. Instead, they want all additional capital investment to come from private or borrowed investment.

"It is time for Fianna Fáil to come to their senses, and support the investment we urgently need in housing, in hospitals and in schools. If Fine Gael could then be persuaded to change their minds on the daft idea of using the proceeds of the sale of AIB to pay down debt, we would have an extra €6bn available to make such investments."

(CD/MH)