Professor Alan Barrett:

When the Acting Chairman asked the question about the endorsable range he also mentioned the figures of €3.1 billion and €2.5 billion. It might be handy to clarify what we were endorsing, because another member of this committee, Deputy Spring, seems to have been confused on this point. We only endorsed the macroeconomic forecasts underpinning the budget. The question of €3.1 billion or €2.5 billion was not part of our endorsement exercise. It had a mechanical impact on the final set of forecasts because the fact that there was a lower overall consolidation meant that the numbers were a little bit different. It is important to state precisely what it was we were endorsing and what we were not endorsing.