Mr. Derek Moran:

May I make a final comment? During the very difficult times the emphasis was heavily weighted towards reductions in expenditure. That does not go to the heart of efficiencies but I think the ratio between the heavy lifting on correcting the budget was about 2:1 in terms of expenditure over revenue. There is a consciousness about putting an economic imposition on the taxpayer that it stifles one's capacity to grow. That was the way it was over time. It does not get to the heart of efficiencies, but it is reducing expenditure. That was the way it was done.

In fairness to all spending Departments, and my colleagues in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, proportionately, they did more of the lifting than the revenue side.