Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I was trying to listen, but it has been a hectic morning. I thank the Chair for letting me attend. I am interested in the issue of equality budgeting. A number of the witnesses discussed difficulties around definitions. Is there a working or operational definition that could then be refined?

This could be by way of the Gini coefficient. Although it is not perfect, with regard to equality budgeting, the Gini coefficient is one metric we could use to see how a given measure might impact inequality. With regard to tax expenditure, efforts could be made to incorporate tax gap analysis. That is already being done in some EU jurisdictions with regard to a range of taxes. Tax gap analysis relates to the amount of tax revenues lost to taxpayer non-compliance and tax avoidance and the impact of Government tax policy choices. Will Ms O'Loughlin comment on that? I will try to look through my notes before my next question.