Mr. Richard Keane:

We are seeking to address three streams in this process. Who is affected by the budget? There are various groups, particularly those who do not have strong lobby groups and are not represented on the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council. In recent years the budget has had a greater impact on those on lower incomes. We are talking about addressing another stream, which is the political will at the moment. Having begun the equality budgeting campaign, we know we have considerable support from Oireachtas Members from all parties. The third stream is the process. The current budgetary process is dysfunctional, with a very short lead-in time to when the budget decisions are announced. By the time many NGOs make their pre-budget submissions, in reality the decisions are generally done and dusted.

We are looking for something along the lines of the Scottish model. Scotland is a country close to us with a similar-sized population. We should look at how it addresses its budgetary process and how its budget has evolved. The Scottish Government has a positive equality duty which is underpinned by its Equality Act 2010. It has an equality budgeting advisory group that is part of the process. We are not saying that when the budget arrives anybody here should have a veto or anything. However, we seek a process that is more open and transparent.

The current budgetary decision-making process is dysfunctional and does a disservice to many Deputies and Senators in this House. They have a duty to stand up and look after constituents of whatever cohort and category. They have a very limited role unless they are within the Department of Finance or within the institution of the Civil Service.

We know that Deputies Tuffy and Ó Snodaigh travelled to Scotland recently. As Deputy Ó Snodaigh is present he can probably tell us much more. We are looking towards this model to open up the process, thereby allowing Oireachtas Members to represent their constituents in a better way and represent those who are more marginalised and generally the weakest members of society. If we want to achieve egalitarian change in Ireland, one of the important facets is economic participation in our society.

Today the TASC newsletter was published. There will be a conference with Thomas Piketty on 20 June. The OECD is talking about income inequality, as is the IMF. Having gone through an economic crisis, let us see if we can take the next steps towards making the outcomes of the budgetary process fairer and more equal.