Mr. Joe Cullen:

The costs are available publicly on the Revenue website. We would provide it through the Minister in response to parliamentary questions or representations. In one sense, therefore, the information is readily and publicly available. That leads onto the next steps and if the proposition that tax spending is the equivalent of direct spending is accepted. This would suggest that over time we should look at developing a more elaborate accounting system for tax expenditures whereby, perhaps on an annual basis, the cost would be set out for all tax expenditures in the same way as direct spending is set out. That would seem to us to be a reasonable development.