Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On the budgetary office and whether it should be on a statutory footing, in the spirit of where we are now I would have to say that is a matter for the Oireachtas. I believe it is something that should be considered.

On the timing, I suggest it would be worthwhile getting the body up and running for a period of time on an administrative basis to learn from how it works; that could then be used to inform how it could be made as independent as possible. That is something that should be considered by this committee. The budgetary office must exist and work within the framework of the Constitution, and we have already had a discussion on that.

The role of the fiscal council is very much a matter for the Minister for Finance. There are clear roles that the fiscal council must provide, for example, in relation to the deficit and how we engage with European institutions. Within all of that, there is ample important work that a new independent Oireachtas economics body would be able to perform and I would anticipate little, if any, conflict.