Mr. John McCarthy:

What happened in 2015 was that GDP was increasing and then there was a level shift and we are growing off that level, so that has not fallen back down. However, we are seeing a number of other issues going on now. The Deputy may have heard of the concept of contract manufacturing to which the Minister has referred several times. That is production which takes place in China but for statistical reasons is included in the Irish national accounts, and correctly so because, I stress, GDP is compiled in lines with best standards. There are quite a lot of distortions in the number which is why we have had the discussions with Deputies Cullinane and Connolly about GDP being problematic. It is compiled properly but as an indicator of how our living standards are changing, it is not particularly good and has not been for the past five or six years.