Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 26 July 2017
134. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Finance the details of the national debt on the national balance sheet; the debt that is listed under the National Treasury Management Agency; the detail of all other debts classified within the Government sector for national debt by Department adding up to the overall debt; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35987/17]
View answerGeneral Government Gross Debt (GGD) is a measure of the total gross consolidated debt of the State compiled by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) and is the measure used for comparative purposes across the European Union. National Debt is effectively a domestic measure as it is the net debt incurred by the Exchequer after taking account of cash balances and other financial assets.
Gross National Debt is the principal component of GGD. There is no Departmental break-down of debt as each Department is funded via the Exchequer and/or appropriations in aid. However it should be noted that, as well as National Debt, GGD also includes the debt of central and local government bodies. GGD is reported on a gross basis and does not net off outstanding cash balances and other related assets.
The most recent figures reported for GGD for 2016 was published by the Central Statistics Office in the Government Finance Statistics Quarterly Results (Quarter 1 2017) and was reported at €200.6bn.
Turning to the National Debt the most recent figure reported for 2016 can be found on the NTMA website (available here) and was €185.6bn.
