Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman for that. Let us assume that figures given in The Economist are right, then according to this chart we are somewhat of an outlier. I can imagine the argument put forward by the net contributor countries such as France, Germany, etc., that Ireland in terms of its GDP per capita and standard wealth metrics is as wealthy as they and yet we are on the wrong side of the line here and why are we not net contributors? Within the context of very sensitive euro level negotiations on Ireland's debt, the banking debt and all of those issues, is there any reputational risk to us of still being a net recipient even though we are one of the wealthiest countries in the eurozone?