Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Obviously it makes sense to try to keep debt at a low level or a reasonable level. As Mr. Barnes mentioned, it is written into the treaties so we are stuck with it and have to figure a way around it. The real question is how to get to 60%. Again, it seems that politics was the dominant factor. Germany produced a paper that suggested a 0.5% adjustment to GDP. This is what ended up appearing in the proposals. The average EU debt to GDP ratio at present is 85%. Obviously we are below 60% so it does not affect us. Greece is at 178%, Italy is at 147%, Portugal is at 120%, Spain is at 115%, France is at 113% and Belgium is at 106%. This has led Olivier Blanchard, the former chief economist of the IMF, to describe the proposals as catastrophic. He said they would lead to the worst form of pro-cyclical policy. Will IFAC give its views on this proposal?