Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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117. To ask the Minister for Finance the impact on the debt to GDP ratio of a reduction of the debt by €2, €3 and €5 billion, respectively; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35893/18]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The nominal figures of €2 billion, €3 billion and €5 billion equate to 0.6 per cent of GDP, 1.0 per cent of GDP and 1.6 per cent of projected GDP for this year. 

Accordingly, a reduction of €2 billion, €3 billion or €5 billion in nominal public indebtedness would reduce the gross general government debt to GDP ratio by approximately 0.6 percentage points, 1.0 percentage points or 1.6 percentage points respectively.

Modified GNI, or GNI*, is a more appropriate measure of debt sustainability for the Irish economy than GDP, as it excludes globalisation factors that disproportionality impact Irish GDP.

Accordingly, a reduction of €2 billion, €3 billion or €5 billion in nominal public indebtedness would reduce the gross general government debt to GNI* ratio by approximately 0.9 percentage points, 1.4 percentage points or 2.3 percentage points respectively.

Finally, I want to point out that in the Annual Report on Public Debt in Ireland 2018, published this month, my Department highlighted that public debt per capita in Ireland is one of the highest in the developed world, meaning that the economy is vulnerable to changes in the external economic situation.

This is why we need to balance the books and to put debt on a downward trajectory.