Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is a very good question. The European Commission is a number of weeks away from presenting proposals to the European Council or to finance ministers on this topic. Obviously there is a lot of merit for us if the GNI approach is used because in many ways that offers a more accurate picture of how our economy is actually performing. However, because a paper has not been tabled and we are not even at the point of informal consultation with the Commission on how performance will be measured, I cannot answer the Deputy's question. Obviously we will try to ensure that our own economic circumstances are fairly and accurately appreciated and understood in any process that goes on.

I briefly reiterate the point that I made to Deputy Howlin, namely, that many other countries, from an economic point of view, are dealing with difficult situations too. It is worthwhile saying now that we are approaching this whole process as a net contributor to the European Union. That is going to have a very big influence on our approach to this issue.

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