Mr. Eddie Casey:

-----as a crutch. We seem to be complying with them on the face of it.

They have been so pro-cyclical as to be really not helpful, as the Minister pointed out in the summer economic statement last year. In the foreword he was clear that the rules were unhelpful, totally inappropriate and acting in a way that was so pro-cyclical as to be not helpful. While it is important to comply with them, it should be acknowledged that they set a really low bar in achieving a prudent fiscal policy.