Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Perhaps this is a question for both witnesses but it seems to me that on the statistics side, if there is a significant disparity between GNI* and GDP, and I welcome the new measurement as it at least gives us a fleshed out picture, does is it not also mean that to facilitate the full spectrum of debate around how we respond to the real state of the Irish economy, we need more statistics on the distribution of wealth? I would also like to ask for statistics on wage share, which should be included in figures. There is a very definite trajectory, which is not good as far as I am concerned, in terms of wage share as a proportion of national income as against profits. That should be measured and be included in the figures. We should see it and see what the pattern is. Perhaps the witnesses could respond to that point.

If the real fiscal space that we can depend on is much narrower than GDP would allow us, the other side of that is if we are going to find money for investment in capital or anything else, we have to look at other possible ways of getting revenue. That means a much more forensic set of figures and statistics in terms of the distribution of different aspects of wealth, income, property, resources and all that kind of stuff. Perhaps the witnesses would comment on that.