James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I confirm I am in the precincts of Leinster House.

I thank our witnesses for appearing before the committee. Recognising the importance of the Department of Finance, in particular, to the economy, I acknowledge that extraordinarily difficult work has been done by so many civil servants working on this brief trying to keep businesses and the economy afloat during Covid. Credit is due in this regard.

Let me refer to the primary issue I would like to raise. The gross national debt in 2020 stood at approximately €220 billion. What we are starting to see, and as alluded to in reports today by Bloomberg, is a rise in interest rates in the UK and, potentially, the eurozone. In terms of the debt in Ireland and inflation at a scale that has not been seen in many decades, what is the exposure when it comes to the change in interest rates? The Secretary General or perhaps the chief economist, Mr. McCarthy, might like to answer that.