Mr. Seamus Coffey:

Our publications use public spending as a share of GNI*. This would be tracked, for example on a general Government basis, which would be the one that would primarily be used. Yes, it has trended down once we take out the Covid years. It would have been slightly over 40% in 2017 and 2018, maybe, and it is slightly under 40% now, according to the latest estimates for 2023, which is the last complete estimate we would have. Regarding what that indicates, I suppose you would have to look at what is in GNI* and consider whether that is reflective of the tax raising capacity of the Government.

The answer is, to a large extent, "Yes". We certainly think that GNI* is a much better measure of these issues than GDP, for example, which has various problems. We could look at GNI* itself and ask if there are issues with this measure. We do, though, think GNI* is more appropriate. Putting Government spending as a share of GNI* is a useful indicator and is something we have done.