Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

Consolidating two sets of financial statements is not replacing them. It is an extra presentation, as it were. Recommendation 1b on page 74 is to "combine the Finance and Appropriation Accounts into a consolidated central government financial statement". There are other accounts which might be comprehended in that as well, for instance, the Social Insurance Fund, Local Government Fund, National Training Fund and possibly the Revenue accounts as well, depending on the level of information required. The point is that none of these on its own gives a comprehensive picture of what the State is taking in and spending. There is scope to produce a consolidated statement, which would be subject to audit and so on. I do not think it is absolutely necessary that there would be a statutory underpinning of that. It could be done in the context of producing the Central Fund of the Exchequer. There could be other consolidated information presented with that which would be helpful and useful for the committee and others who want to get a snapshot of the position.