The cost of servicing the National Debt accounts for half the income tax raised by the Exchequer, according to latest government data.

In the January to April 2016 period, income tax receipts  totalled €6.1 billion and interest payments on the National Debt amounted to €3 billion.

Debt interest currently accounts for 21.6% of all tax raised in the state and exceeds the entire cost of the education system.

General Government Gross Debt was €201 billion at the end of 2015, a reduction of €2bn year-on-year. That’s equivalent to a €100,000 debt for every taxpayer in the country. The National Debt is equivalent to 98.3% of GDP.

Net debt – gross debt minus financial assets - was €171bn compared with €167bn a year earlier. Government net debt increased by 55% during the period of the Fine Gael/Labour government.

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