Mr. Michael Tutty:

When the proposal for a parliamentary budget office was brought up last year, a question arose as to whether the IFAC should be incorporated into it or should be that budget office. We certainly believed that it went way beyond our mandate and that it would change the whole ethos of the council. The few people seated behind me would not be in a position to do all the current work and that work as well. It is a question that can be discussed as to whether our mandate should be wider, but we would have to see what the parliamentary budget office is in place for. Is that the body that should be advising parliamentarians on issues like that as opposed to the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council? There are plenty of options. We could start with Colm McCarthy bringing back an bord snip 3 if the members want to try that one.