Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Much of this work is already being done and it is a question of formalising it and agreeing on the methodology to be used. For example, on budget day the Department published a list of illustrative examples showing the impact of the budget in different circumstances. The ESRI produced its own reports. The Minister might take issue with what it includes or does not include or the methodology it uses, but the point is that the work is already being done. The thrust of the amendment seeks to have an analysis carried out of the impact of the budget on individuals. The examples given by the Minister are right and proper. They are assessments of the effectiveness of tax reliefs, for example, in different sectors. They are economic impact assessments, but the thrust of the amendment, as I read it, is to have an assessment made of the impact on individuals. The Department is doing some of the work and the ESRI is carrying it out; therefore, it is about formalising the process. If the will was there to do it, it would be quite straightforward to agree how it should be done and the precise methodology to be used, instead of having a situation where the Government disagrees with the way the ESRI is going about it and we support it or use it to support our political arguments and vice versa. That is a circular argument that gets us nowhere.