CSO figures reveal higher debt levels

A new way of measuring the size of the economy has shown the legacy of debt from the crash is much higher than previously estimated, and will likely hem in government spending for years to come.

The new CSO figures were compiled under a measure called GNI (gross national income) which is designed to strip out some of the huge distortions caused by multinationals that led to the “Leprechaun Economics” jibe after revised figures published last summer showed GDP had surged by over 26% in 2015.

The economy grew by 5.1% in terms of GDP in 2016 — the fastest in the EU — and at an even faster pace under the new GNI measure.