Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

It struck me when Deputy Eoghan Murphy was asking his question that it is really a whole-of-government performance measure. It might be something that would be worth discussing with the Secretary General of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform or the Secretary General of the Department of Finance. Certainly we have seen these things being published, but it raises accounting issues. One must take account of the fact that there is debt as well, which is used to fund expenditure. What way does one factor that into the presentation of the information? Certainly it is something that potentially gives meaning to citizens and taxpayers as to how their money is used. Had I more resources, I might attempt something like that in the interests of informing the public or, indeed, just establishing that it can be done in a meaningful way.