Mr. Nigel Nagarajan:

I thank members for their questions. Perhaps I should begin by stating that I am somewhat constrained in terms of how I can answer some of the questions. I have been asked to attend to talk about the annual growth survey. I am very happy to do that in as helpful a way as possible, but I really must stick to that part of the discussion. Some of the questions or some aspects thereof go into quite a lot of detail on the specifics of Ireland's own situation and in particular on the Irish programme. Unfortunately, I am not in a position today to go into those aspects. I will try to answer from an AGS perspective and will try to be as helpful as possible, but I hope the joint committee will understand that I cannot go into the details of the programme today. Incidentally, members might recall that in July of last year, representatives of the troika appeared before the joint committee and answered questions. If members wish to invite the troika again to do this, I would be very happy to pass on such an invitation to the other institutions. However, it would not be fair for me, representing just one institution on my own, to try to take on some of these questions, especially as I was asked simply to discuss the AGS.

In an effort to address some of the issues raised by the two members and in response to the question from Deputy Mathews, I should have begun by distributing a handout I brought along for the joint committee. It actually includes some bar charts and what I hope are some useful charts and frameworks for explaining how the process works. I take on board the Deputy's comment, because this is a process I am trying to explain. It is in part a process and in part policy guidance and it is perhaps a little hard to grasp fully the mouthful I tried to convey to members. I hope the charts and the graphics can be helpful in that respect.

As for some of the specific points raised by Deputy Mathews, I will try to respond with an AGS focus, rather than an Irish-specific focus. The Deputy was basically pointing to the failure of the financial system to support the recovery, and this point is very much evident in the AGS. However, we must think about what practical steps can be taken now to help SMEs and households to get access to credit. The financial system is not yet fully supporting the recovery in many member states. As for what options are available for member states to think about to support the recovery-----