Dr. Róisín O'Sullivan:

There are elements of the budgetary framework that take the potential growth rate into account. Let us take the expenditure benchmark, for example. If Ireland's potential growth rate is 3%, as opposed to 2% in other countries, under that benchmark expenditure can grow faster. The constraint is making sure we have sustainable revenue sources to finance that expenditure. If our potential growth rate is higher, the rate of growth in expenditure can be higher too. That is allowed for in the framework.