Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

Discounted cashflow analysis is a very standard procedure in economic decision-making. It is used in many disciplines and areas. It is used in pension evaluation and in areas like public private partnerships. The whole financial modelling of public private partnerships is based on this kind of discounted cashflow work. Over the years, my office has done reports on these matters. We have examined those cashflows in detail. It is a standard methodology. We have been examining these cashflows and dealing with the process of discounting for accounting and loan valuation purposes since this started. I think the question of whether a different discount rate, perhaps as high as 10%, would have been appropriate was tabled in June.