Mr. Gerard Brady:

That chart is probably from before the new national development plan, so the 5% of GNI target we are looking at in the new plan is probably the right number. The challenge we have had in the past, which can be seen in that chart, is that every other country in Europe and the developed world has a flat line of consistent investment over time, and Ireland has a kind of sawtooth effect where in good times we spend a lot and in bad times we cut back. The major challenge is twofold. One, is that we lose capacity in the sector in the downturns and then we cannot build as much as we want to in the good times. Second, is that we are always building at the top of the cycle, which gives terrible value for money from an Exchequer perspective. As I said earlier, when we see a new set of fiscal rules, our view is that there needs to be a set target for infrastructure spending as a share of the economy in those fiscal rules. That sets a baseline in the budget that needs to be met every time. At the moment it does look like the NDP will meet those and that is a positive thing, but the multi-annual funding, and the guarantee that is going to be persevered with, regardless of the economic cycle, is the most important piece.