Brendan Ryan (Dublin North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I like the idea promoted by both groups of pre-budget audits and equality-proofing of budgets. The question is how we get to that point and how difficult it would be to introduce such a system. Reference was made to kite flying. One wonders whether with a year-long process one would increase the amount of kite flying. One could also ask who would carry out the process. How do the witnesses envisage that it would operate? Would it be a public process or would there be a need for economists to be involved? Would it be done by politicians or departmental officials, or is there a need for a special committee?

The other complicating factor is that there is a centre left and centre right component to this Government. In the normal budgetary process we would be arguing from different perspectives, nothing is agreed until everything is agreed and there is a good deal political negotiation to be done in terms of a final budget. If this was a one-party Government it might be easier to initiate that process. Those are the difficulties. I am looking for some direction on how this might work and how we might progress to that rather than try to scotch it in any way. Does this process work in other countries? Is there a successful model we could examine?