Mr. Paul Quinn:

At this time, the State spends approximately €8.5 billion on goods and services. That figure excludes approximately €3.4 billion of capital works, including large projects like the Luas interconnector. When all the figures are combined, it amounts to between €12 billion and €13 billion. This points to the lack of data within the system and the efforts the office is making to capture the spend at a detailed or micro level.

In terms of where we stand at this moment in time, the key areas where the OGP sees business going overseas are areas such as defence, laboratory and diagnostic equipment and surgical and pharmaceutical areas. They would be key areas where we have seen evidence that significant amounts of State moneys go outside the State.