Mr. Seamus Coffey:

On corporation tax, it is clear that the risks are quite significant. We would view and assess that a high impact would be more appropriate for the concentration and concerns around corporation tax.

What would be the appropriate response? As we have said repeatedly, the appropriate response would be to remove corporation tax from the discussion about how fiscal policy should be set and move towards a discussion of what is sustainable over the medium to long term so what happens to corporation tax then becomes something that we observe happening rather than something that becomes central to the way fiscal policy is set. Regarding most of these resources being used over the last number of years on which we have now become dependent, if there was to be a significant shock to corporation tax receipts then a significant deficit would open up. If we had set fiscal policy in a more sustainable fashion over the last number of years then we would be in a position to absorb that shock. Our hope would be that we could move away from the discussion of corporation tax being a driver of fiscal policy and more towards what is sustainable in the medium term.