Peter Mathews (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On subsection (c), it is stipulated that the Fiscal Advisory Council shall provide an assessment of whether the fiscal stance for the year or years concerned is, in the opinion of the council, conducive to prudent economic and budgetary management, including by reference to the provisions of the Stability and Growth Pact. What is the basis of the assessment? What methodology does it use in arriving at the assessment? There is tension or a difference in objectives in respect of the provisions of the Stability and Growth Pact and the independent assessment, by whatever methods, of the Fiscal Advisory Council in determining whether the fiscal stance is conducive to prudent economic and budgetary management for Ireland. There is a conflict.