Ms Jennifer Banim:

I do not have the figure with me but we can get that and pass it on. It was significant, given the €300 billion increase in the assets, and Mr. Connolly might have that information for us later.

We then saw the impact on intellectual property and consequential contract manufacturing on GDP. We saw the impact of the depreciation on GNP because the profits that were being earned here in Ireland by the multinational enterprises were reduced by the large depreciation charge, so there was an impact on GDP and GNP. If one moves to the purest measure we have of the Irish economy currently, given its structure, which is net national product, that removes the effect of profits and depreciation. Therefore, we are getting to something that is within the national account framework that is a legally required indicator. If we could get the discussion focused on net national product, it would move on the discussion. Obviously, it would be a better reflection, when people are talking about the Irish economy, if we can get them to use that.

The other items mentioned by the Senator come back to volatility and what can happen in the statistics. As Mr. Dalton outlined, these things can happen and they can happen in the opposite direction. We have seen increasing globalisation activity attributed to the Irish macroeconomic statistics in recent years and our anticipation is that, given what is happening with Brexit, which the Senator highlighted, it is likely this amount of change and complexity in the national accounts is going to increase and develop. That is why the work of the expert group and the international statistical community to move beyond GDP, if I may use a cliché, is critical.

I would add that, as part of the block of work we are doing in the CSO, the expert group is attended by international observers, so we have people from EUROSTAT and the IMF, and the UN is also interested in contributing to this work. There is an awareness among the international statistical community and the broader community who set out the legislation for what needs to be measured in an economy, that the discussion has to be had. In that sense, I am hopeful we are now serious about a discussion beyond GDP. I think that can feed into something that will really help the Irish user into the future.