Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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I thank Mr. Gjedrem. I want to set that in context with our own oil and gas exploration. I come from the community of the Corrib gas project and we have had much experience in that regard. We have followed the Norwegian model for many years now. The fund has built up in Norway. We do not have such a fund.

I wish to ask about scale and the correct response to managing a surplus. Is that dependent on the size of the surplus? The Government is projecting a substantial windfall in corporation tax in the coming years. However, even the projection of €65 billion to 2030 is a modest figure when compared to the €1 trillion in the Norwegian fund. No decisions have been made. We have considerable infrastructural deficits and regional imbalances to consider in the context of that €65 billion. Does Mr. Gjedrem agree that the scale of the surpluses dictate the correct policy response? At what scale of surplus would he recommend that a State should begin to look at the Norwegian model of a sovereign wealth fund? Does the projected surplus in Ireland meet those criteria?