Mr. Donal McNally:

Well, the ... I would have been advised just before that meeting of the Economic and Finance Committee, that they were planning to make this recommendation and I would have reported back to the Minister, who felt that it wasn't justified, and I would have argued at the Economic and Finance Committee that the recommendation was not warranted. I agree that they did, in the 2000 broad guidelines, say that we should stand ready to use countervailing measures. But we had a surplus of 4.3% in 2000 and were planning another surplus of 4%, so, you know, that is taking a lot of resources out of the economy. What they were suggesting was another 0.5%. In the end, the economy slowed in 2001, and the Commission did not renew the recommendation, it, sort of ... a draw was called, I suppose.