Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Therefore, it is always asking to go further than necessary in order to give itself that little bit of leeway. I do not think the Government has ever agreed with the council's position on the level of adjustment. There is a long-term problem, however. Whether or not we agree with the Government's position, the Fiscal Advisory Council is statutorily bound to provide data, yet within a day of that data being published, the Minister for Finance may say he is not accepting it. The Minister has to weigh up public concerns and he is right in making that call. He may say that is because the council does not have all the data. He told the committee yesterday that the council does not have the soft data which the Department has. The problem is that the council should have whatever data the Department has. It does not make any sense for the council to assess whether we will reach targets, if the Minister tells the committee that the council does not have all the soft data available to the Department concerning the €2 billion adjustment being made. How can we strengthen that situation and deal with it? Does the council see that as a problem in future?