Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise a number of issues, on some of which Mr. Walsh touched in his replies to Deputy Martin Heydon. The first relates to the commentary since the budget on how accurate and reliable is the figure presented in the budget. Mr. Walsh has outlined the process Revenue went through to arrive at the figure, taking out one-off large-scale sales. I would appreciate a little more detail on the process involved.

The Revenue Commissioners provide data for the Department of Finance in the preparation of budgets. Was this part of that process or did the Government seek the information specifically from Revenue? If so, how late in the day did that happen?

Does Mr. Walsh have concerns that we are potentially moving to a position where we are relying on future expenditure being based on transaction taxes which could go up or down?