David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to return to the issue of GDP, GNI and GNI*. Mr McCarthy has been very helpful to the committee. His knowledge of the issues is quite impressive, and I thank him for sharing. However, I have concerns, and I hope that someone with his knowledge can help someone like me, a layperson, to understand exactly what is happening here. I am looking at page 20 of the Comptroller and Auditor General's report, which says that GNI* is defined by the Central Statistics Office, CSO, as gross national income. It then discusses the adjustments. The witness earlier said that the difference between GDP and GNI* is that there are a number of adjustments or exclusions made that would not be included in GDP but that are included in GNI*. This section seems to suggest that profits of redomiciled firms - where profits go out of the country - is a concern, as are the depreciation of research and development related to intellectual property imports and aircraft leasing. Do those areas have a distorting impact on GDP?