Mr. John McCarthy:

It is a very big sector. There are two elements, one of which is the actual purchases of aircraft by the Irish owned aircraft firms. It distorts the investment figure but it does not distort GDP because they are all imported. We do not produce aircraft here. I think the Deputy is probably referring to the aircraft leasing sector, as some of the largest aircraft leasing firms in the world are based in Ireland. There was a methodological change introduced to the current account over the summer, which moved from a cross-border to a change of economic ownership basis.

In the past, if a good or service did not cross the Irish Border, it was not an import or an export. Moving to a change of economic ownership means that if an Irish resident aircraft leasing firm purchases an aircraft from Seattle, for example, and then sends it directly to a large aircraft firm in France, it is not crossing the Irish Border but the leasing firm is based in Ireland so it is included in the Irish capital stock. There is an income stream that is generated from that so that it should be included in the Irish capital stock. That is the rationale for it. I will get the Deputy the absolute levels.

Purchases of aircraft this year will amount to about €4 billion compared to about €6 billion last year. However, I stress it is GDP-neutral in the sense that all of the aircraft are imported.