Mr. John McCarthy:

I think the concentration of tax receipts is a wider issue. We have a massive concentration of economic activity in Ireland. Let me put some figures on that. A total of 50 firms account for something like four fifths of industrial turnover in Ireland. The top five firms account for something like 36% or 37% of total exports. What we have in Ireland is a small economy but a huge dominance by the multinational sector in terms of overall economic activity, exports and so on. The point I made in the presentation was that is now reflected in the concentration of corporation tax receipts. It is an exposure. That is not to say having these large firms is a bad thing. Obviously, they are big employers and so forth. Nonetheless, it is an exposure.

I believe we have to be prudent. This is why I drew the attention of the committee to the need to do the following: achieve a balanced budget by 2018, as is Government policy; establish a rainy day fund, which is the current policy; and go with a debt ratio that is below the requirement of the Stability and Growth Pact. Those measures will help to mitigate any adverse outcome that we might see from the concentration.

To answer the Deputy's question directly, we are being sufficiently prudent.