Mr. Sebastian Barnes:

From working in the council, I have learned how complicated the public finances are. The amount of work required to make analysis that is credible, error-free and properly thought through is immense. It is good that we have our chief economist and our secretariat who do a great job. It is not in the interests of our credibility to spread ourselves too thinly. Ireland is lucky in having many good commentators. One may not agree with everything they say and some people on the council in a private capacity express their views as such. The council tries to make very sound evidence-based analysis which naturally limits how much we can do. That is not a plea for extra resources - I am just pointing out there is considerable work for the council to reach a view and ensure the analysis is soundly based, which is what I hope gives us authority and credibility in public debate. We are very much aware of the risk of spreading ourselves too thinly and being found wanting, which is not what we want.