It's emerged that vulture funds registered in Ireland have gathered up to €300 billion in assets - with only a fraction of them liable for tax here.

The Central Bank has admitted that it's still getting to grips with the size of so-called 'special purpose vehicles'.

But it's confirmed that the vehicles have assets of around €300 billion, of which only a small fraction is subject to tax.

This is because while those firms are registered in Ireland and licensed by the Central Bank, many are not tax resident in Ireland.

While a similar loophole for corporations is being phased out and will be shut in 2020, there has not been any move as of yet to close off this tax avoidance mechanism.

The news came as TDs were briefed on the economic picture in the run up to Budget 2017, at the first meeting of the new Budgetary Oversight Committee.

Central Bank chief economist Gabriel Fagan says the bank needs to get up to speed before it can assess the issue of tax: