Professor John McHale:

The council reads the legislation more narrowly than that because we are asked to talk about the prudence of the fiscal stance, which is really around the overall size of the deficit. It does get to the more general point that I want to make. It is very important to the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council that it is not seen as partisan or ideological. Fiscal responsibility is not a partisan or ideological issue. The more one believes in government, the more one should believe in fiscal responsibility. There is the idea that fiscal hawks also want to shrink government but that is not what we are about. If we start getting into a situation where we are recommending tax cuts over spending changes, we are immediately into that political space, whichever way we go. It would undermine the council's ability to do the things where it can add the most value which is to really be a voice for fiscal responsibility. Hopefully, that is something all parties can share. There is a big advantage, given its particular mandate, to the council refraining from getting into a space that goes beyond its remit and the role that people want it to play.