Mr. John McCarthy:

No, it is because of the size of the multinationals. We all know they are quite profitable in many cases. However, there is also a profit inflow from Irish firms abroad that are profitable too, but in net terms it is a net profit outflow. That is GDP to GNI. The Philip Lane group came up with the concept of GNI* two years ago. One goes from GNI to GNI* by removing the depreciation of foreign-owned capital assets in Ireland, especially the depreciation on intellectual property assets. They depreciate quite rapidly so that is a huge amount in the difference. The second major adjustment is to exclude the profit inflows of firms that have redomiciled to Ireland. This is the so-called inversion issue. The profits of these firms do not accrue to Irish residents. They are ultimately paid in the form of dividends to their foreign owners. That is not Irish income so that is the second adjustment. The biggest one, however, is the depreciation of foreign owned capital assets.