Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Okay, but I would put to you, Mr. Considine, that the evidence shows very clearly that from the late 1980s onwards, there was a gradual increase in the dependence on the cyclical taxes, being corporation tax, stamp duty and capital gains tax. And during your years as Secretary General of the Department, there was a dramatic acceleration in the dependence on cyclical taxes to such an extent that it increased to 30% in 2006. So 30% of all taxation revenue was deemed to be cyclical in nature and dependent on, essentially, temporary factors which, ultimately, fizzled away.