Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 3 December 2015

Public Accounts Committee

2014 Annual Report and Appropriation Accounts of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance
Chapter 1 - Exchequer Financial Outturn for 2014
Chapter 2 - Government Debt
Chapter 3 - Cost of Bank Stabilisation Measures as at the end of 2014
Finance Accounts 2014

10:00 am

Mr. Derek Moran:

We are rapidly going back to getting the public finances into some semblance of balance. The reality is that if this holds over until next year, all other things being equal, and classic economists' qualification and so on, we are looking at a deficit at the end of this year of around 1.7%. We started off with a deficit target for next year of 1.2%. If this carries through, we are down to a figure of zero point something. We would be down to getting very close to a balanced budget and getting ourselves out of what is known as the state of the pact that we are in-----