Mr. Robert Watt:

Progress is being made. If a Department says its assets are worth €100 million, carries out a review and says they are now worth €150 million, the key is that we move to an accounting system that provides that Department with clear incentives to make decisions about the use of those assets. If we implement all of these recommendations, which we will, it will improve things but it does not get us to the end position where we need to make decisions. At the moment, we make a decision to spend more and increase the capital spending of a Department. Over time, we need to consider the impact of that spending on the net worth of the balance sheet of the State. We focus on the general government balance, the gross debt or the cash spend of the Exchequer. Over time, the philosophy is that we must get to a discussion about the net value to the State. This is why we have embarked on this change in how we account for public money, which is-----