Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the delegates for the presentation, despite the challenges in not having adequate time. It was very interesting and informative. As many issues have been discussed by previous speakers, I will focus on some that have not been mentioned.

I understand the delegates cannot delve into budgetary matters or the political world, but it is being reported today that the Minister, Deputy Michael Noonan, has confirmed that the GDP growth rate next year will be 2% as a result of his announcement that the deficit adjustment will be €2.5 billion. The delegates have told the committee that it will be 1.8%, with the caveat that it is based on a €3.1 billion adjustment. I accept the caveat that they do not know how the adjustment will be made, but they did not know how it was going to be made when they were projecting the figure of 1.8%.

Let us assume a number of things. Would an adjustment of less than €600 million result in higher growth rates in the economy - possibly in the order of 0.2%?