Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)

On the amendment, Senator Byrne's first point seeks to have the Minister provide consolidated details of his powers under the Bill and under any subsequent order. I do not believe that legislative change is required in this case but I understand the Minister would be happy to consider making available a further explanatory memorandum when the Bill is enacted, giving an overview of the functions that are transferred. The Minister has indicated that.

It will also be clear from the delegation order which functions are transferring to the Minister for public expenditure and reform and these will be set out in the schedule to the order which will be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas. There are ways in which the information will be transferred to the public, a point about which Senator Byrne was concerned.

On Senator's Byrne's second point regarding the budget and Estimates process, as the Minister indicated, the Estimates processes are now well established and, as of now, it is not envisaged that there will be a change in the timetable. The timetable for the annual budget and Estimates will remain as they are, namely, that there is a budget in December along with the initial or budget day Estimates followed by a more detailed Revised Estimates volume in February, which is the normal procedure.

The Bill draws a distinction between the role of the Minister for Finance, who will be primarily responsible for overall fiscal policy, including the aggregate expenditure level, and the Minister for public expenditure and reform who will be primarily responsible for preparing the annual Book of Estimates.

With regard to the point raised by Senator O'Brien, all matters relating to banking will remain with the Minister for Finance. Subsection (3)(b) defines a public service body by reference to bodies which have a public service pension scheme in force. Therefore, matters relating to banking will remain with the Minister for Finance.