Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I would like to sit here for a few hours and ask questions. Having spent the past two years sitting on the banking inquiry, one of the big lessons is that we should have a proper engagement at committees with the Governor. Unfortunately, we usually have to skim over a number of important subjects and we do not get to the nuts and bolts of anything. I hope if some of us are returned following the general election that there will be a deeper relationship between the Central Bank and this committee, which will be more meaningful. Many of the reports and speeches delivered to this committee have been delivered to other committees without getting below the surface. That is a disservice to the people unless we delve deeper.

I refer to economic growth rates and the bank's role in financial stability. Professor Lane has identified vulnerabilities in the context of the growth rates. Will he elaborate on them? I am sure he read last week's IMF report, which cautioned against the erosion of the tax base and called for sustainable public investment, which the fund claims would lead to more sustainable growth in the long term. He made comments recently about the fiscal space and what should be done with that. Is he concerned about stability? Does he support the IMF's view regarding the erosion of the tax base and sustainable public investment? Will he comment, in particular, on the vulnerabilities affecting Ireland's economic growth in the years ahead given the storms on the horizon in China and other factors that are emerging?