David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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56. To ask the Minister for Finance the amount of Government debt that is deemed to be off-balance sheet for accounting purposes; the amount of Government debt that is deemed to be off-balance sheet for accounting purposes expressed as a percentage of total Government debt; the yearly cost of servicing off-balance sheet debt in each of the years from 2001 to 2015 in each case, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17479/16]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The General Government sector consists of what are typically thought of as Government units in Ireland's case these would include Departments of State and their associated Offices and Local Authorities. However, other units may also be classified to the government sector if they are controlled by Government and if they are classified as "non-market producers". The General Government sector thus encompasses both Central and Local Government, non-commercial state owned bodies and extra budgetary funds.

All borrowing by this general government sector, regardless of the way it is used, is included in general government debt (GGD). The yearly cost of servicing GGD is detailed in the Central Statistics Office (CSO) Government Finance Statistics April 2016 and forecasts out to 2021 are included in my Department's Stability Programme Update April 2016 - see interest expenditure in Table A2.2 in Annex 1.

Other bodies that are considered "market" institutional units but are controlled by Government (e.g. ESB, AIB) are classified in the 'commercial Public Sector'. The borrowing of these entities is not government debt and is serviced by these bodies from their own commercial activity. Similarly borrowings by the private partner related to a PPP or other similar project in partnership with government is not government debt and the yearly cost of servicing these borrowings is the responsibility of the private partner.