Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Why is this amendment being made in this Bill? It is an amendment to the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2012 which was the responsibility of the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan. It is strange to introduce this amendment in this Bill. If the Minister, Deputy Michael Noonan, is minded to alter section 8 of that legislation, he should do so.

Second, on the particulars of the change being proposed, paragraph (a) is the new part, as paragraphs (b) and (c) remain as in the legislation. The Minister is introducing an obligation on the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council. The council "shall endorse, as it considers appropriate, the macroeconomic forecasts prepared by the Department of Finance on which the Budget and stability programme will be based". I did not catch the Minister's explanation for its role in the endorsement procedures. Will he repeat it? The purpose of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council is to be independent; therefore, the Minister must square the circle for us. On the one hand, there is the independent status of the council and, on the other, there is an obligation to endorse the Department of Finance's forecasts. If one were a cynic, one might wonder if this was in some way related to the fact that the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council had been critical of the Government, perversely because it believed the Government was not dishing out enough austerity. That reflects the particular composition of the council. There were certainly no radically different views introduced to it, but that is another day's work. Will the Minister square the circle of independence, on the one hand, and the endorsement role, on the other? Will he also explain why this amendment to the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2012 has found its way into this Bill? It should more properly be introduced as an amendment to legislation from the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan.