Dr. Tom McDonnell:

Most of our forecasting is focused on the short term. It is a different type of dynamic where we can look at changes in income and employment and so forth. Medium- to long-term forecasting out into the 2030s and 2040s is something we did as part of the Commission on Taxation and Welfare, but the NERI have not done that kind of forecasting looking out into the 2040s or 2050s, or anything like that in the past couple of years. We know what the population demographics are. We know what the projections from the Central Statistics Office are. Assumptions can be made for pensions and healthcare and long-term care and so on based on that. Assumptions can be made based on employment rates and the implications for income tax and so on.