Mr. Derek Moran:

After I sent over the speech, I wondered whether I should have left in those few words. The Department has been told that there have been concerns about our concentration on corporation tax for several years. We have not been behind the door about that. The historic long-run average contribution of corporation tax to our overall tax take has been approximately 14%, but it is now up around 19%. This has to be a cause of prudence and concern. We have to watch it. Some of the consequences of the global tax reform that has been happening have made Ireland a more attractive proposition for multinationals. We have seen a strong performance from the global economy, which is continuing to grow. Profitability has improved. Other changes have also been going on. That is why taking €500 million out of that continued high performance and putting it into the rainy day fund is not a bad thing to do. The last thing we want is for a big line of funding to disappear when we hit slightly bumpy waters. We do not want to be totally reliant on it.