Professor John McHale:

I thank the Deputy for the question. Deputy Boyd Barrett said on the previous occasion that we grew on him over time. We may not have had the chance to grow on Deputy Paul Murphy yet but we are moving in the right direction. The Deputy is correct to point out the massive unexpected increase in corporation tax this year. He mentioned an increase in the order of 58%. While it seems on the basis of what the Revenue Commissioners have said that this is partly attributable to more fundamental factors relating to profitability, it is difficult to believe an increase of that size is based purely on profits. While we must admit again that we do not have any solid insight into that, one must wonder where it is coming from and, therefore, be very cautious in depending on the revenue stream being in place for the future. As the Deputy said, we may have the revenue next year but we have to be cautious beyond that.