Mr. Seamus Coffey:

On the role of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council and a possible conflict with the Department of Finance, it is worth mentioning that our sponsoring Department is the Department of Finance. Ours is officially a Government-funded entity.

Going back to the points raised by Deputy Burke about the maturity and advancement of the debate in Ireland, we are given the opportunity by the Government to criticise it. That shows a big change from where we were ten, 12 or 15 years ago.

On the summer economic statement, we would prefer if all of the information was provided in the Stability Programme Update which is published in April. There is a recognition that there are a lot of moving parts and that the figures can change, but it would be better to receive the summer economic statement earlier and if there was greater adherence to what was contained therein.