The Tánaiste has blamed the ESRI for issuing forecasts that failed to predict the economic collapse.
Joan Burton says Labour and other opposition parties had relied on those forecasts when producing their election manifestos in 2007.
The Tánaiste's giving evidence at the Banking Inquiry about her role as Labour's finance spokesperson, alongside the party's former leader Pat Rabbitte.
She's told the inquiry that there was no reason to think the ESRI's figures could be so wrong:
However the lead questioner at this afternoon's hearings has complained that his questions aren't being answered.
Fianna Fáil's Michael McGrath has accused the Tanaiste of refusing to answer his questions about the alternatives Labour were putting forward:
Later there were angry scenes over the line of questioning taken by McGrath's Fianna Fáil colleague, Senator Marc MacSharry.
MacSharry complained that his questions to Tánaiste Joan Burton weren't being answered - but in turn Senator MacSharry's been accused of disrespecting the inquiry by being hostile towards witnesses.
The senator demanded answers from Joan Burton about the appointment of extra members to the inquiry, after he himself was unexpectedly chosen to appear on the committee, in order to restore the government's majority.
But his tone of questioning felt the need to intervene:
