Mr. Derek Moran:

I will begin to answer the Deputy's questions and then I will hand over to Mr. McCarthy. We have gotten a range of changes and clarifications at a European level which have actually improved the application. I sometimes upset Mr. McCarthy when I say a "problem with the rules", but the rules are a single set of rules to fit every country in the EU. It is a "one size fits all" approach. They are not very adaptable to the peculiarities and particularities of individual countries. In each of the years since the rules have been put in place we have worked through them and we have gotten a number of very technical changes which have helped us. Mr. McCarthy is the chairman of what is known as the output gap working group, which is an integral part of the process. He chairs that group at a European level in order to drive forward an approach based on a greater degree of common sense.