Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Chapter 2 of the Comptroller and Auditor General's report outlines the development of our national debt during the past four years. The graph provided - along with the rapid rise in the number who are unemployed - always strikes me as being the most disturbing illustration of the difficulties we are trying to manage at present. The graph in question shows that, as a result of the current crisis, our national debt nearly quadrupled in the period 2007 to 2011. Will Mr. Corrigan outline the amount of interest we are going to be obliged to pay next year and the following year in the context of servicing the national debt? How much, for example, will we be obliged to pay next year in order to service this debt?