Mr. John McCarthy:

On the role of economics, I agree that we need more of an evidence base and more evaluation of the projects. That is the role of the Irish Government economic and evaluation service. Forecasting also has a role and is certainly one of the key inputs in terms of trying to set fiscal policy.

The Deputy mentioned the sheltered sectors. It is purely a personal view, but I tend to agree; it imposes costs on the economy. As it is detrimental to our competitiveness, I personally would welcome an opening up of some of the sheltered sectors of the economy.