Ms Geraldine Tallon:

I do not think I have the complete distribution of historical debt here. There are authorities which we would watch very closely in terms of their financial position. This is not a secret. Sligo County Council, Limerick County Council, Offaly County Council and Donegal County Council have had problems historically in the debt area. Meath has had a problem with debt. A number of authorities have had capacity over recent years. One can see on an annual basis that they are not continuing to dig a deeper hole. I put Meath and Donegal in that category. On an annual basis one can see a small operating surplus, but if one looks at the historical base one will find they still have significant millstones round their necks from accumulated debt over a longer period of time.