Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 19 April 2018

Public Accounts Committee

Chapter 1 - Exchequer Financial Outturn for 2016
Chapter 2 - Government Debt
Chapter 24 - Irish Fiscal Advisory Council

9:00 am

Mr. Derek Moran:

Yes, give or take the odd billion between friends. The current Governor and Mr. McCarthy worked on this with a statistical group some years ago. They looked at the concept of GNI*, which puts the debt ratio in 2016 at 106% rather than the 70%. Another aspect, which the Minister spoke about this week, is how much money we have borrowed based on every man, woman and child in the State, which is nearly €40,000 per head. This is an extraordinary number. It gives some context of where we stand.