Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am not speaking for the sake of it. I just want to get my head around this issue.

Our job is to talk about the arrangements for the setting up of a budgetary scrutiny committee. We have been talking in general terms about inputs into budgets and all the rest of it, but I am interested in the role of such a committee and the statutory input into this whole process that will be made by the IHREC as a statutory body. Anybody who has been fortunate enough to serve at Cabinet level, as I have, will know that the development of a budget varies depending on numerous factors, including the mix of parties in government and what their politics are. Budget day is spoken about as the big day but it is not really the big day, it is just a tiny part of the whole process.

Maybe we should look at the process up drawing up a budget and a finance Bill in the context of the entire period from the date on which bodies like the IHREC start to make an input until the date on which the finance Bill is passed. On budget day the Minister outlines general principles and so on. At the end of the evening, we vote on a couple of motions, the effect of which is to increase the rate of tax imposed on cigarettes and drink, etc. From then on, it is a question of considering the finance Bill. Should we not suggest that rather than having a budget scrutiny committee, we should have a budget and finance scrutiny committee that focuses on the period between the announcement of the budget and the publication of the finance Bill? That is the important period because it is when all the changes can be discussed and debated. No Minister will openly discuss what he or she is thinking about in his or her budget prior to the announcement of that budget.

I am looking at this purely from a practical point of view. I am not getting into an academic discussion but am focusing on the practicalities as I see them. Maybe I am wrong. I would hope that a body like the IHREC would establish general principles that should be incorporated in every finance Bill and budget. In other words, I want to hear its perspective on the general principles applying to every budget and finance Bill that are important to the role of the IHREC as a statutory body. The IHREC is conscious of the need for the principles in question to be adhered to regardless of the composition of the body of politicians who are framing the budget. That is basically one of the things I am asking about. Is it possible to do this? Do the witnesses agree that when we are producing a report and talking about arrangements for future budgets or finance Bills, we should be looking at this in a broader sense? That is all I want to say.