Dr. Gabriel Fagan:

It is very important to clarify at the start that when the CSO compiles these estimates of GDP, it is doing so in compliance with international rules. It basically does not have a choice. We are not saying the CSO is doing something wrong. The rules are such that the CSO numbers are, in the sense of the rules, correct. The issue is that Ireland is a small open economy with a very large multinational sector where big transactions can have major effects on the economy, so it is very difficult to analyse the economy. If one looks back, even before the last revision from the CSO we were having problems with a whole range of things, including contract manufacturing and redomiciled firms. Back in the 1980s I was working in the bank as an economist and we were also encountering difficulties with transactions relating to multinationals. It is a longstanding problem. It became very acute with the release we saw relating to 2015, but this problem results from the fact that the rules that are written for the standard economy, like the US, may give rise to indicators that may be less useful, if not sometimes unhelpful, for understanding what is going on in an economy like Ireland. That is why we think this group that is set up by the CSO and chaired by the Governor will have an opportunity to make significant progress in coming up with indicators that will be much more helpful in this regard.