Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 15 June 2016

Committee on Arrangements for Budgetary Scrutiny

Engagement with Minister for Finance and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform

10:00 am

Photo of Pearse DohertyPearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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A suggestion being put to us is that the national economic dialogue would be taken in charge and led by the budgetary committee and other sectoral committees. I am sure the Minister would be invited to it as he is inviting us to the next one. I would appreciate the Minister's views on that suggestion. Another suggestion is that Parliament would lead the national economic dialogue instead of the Executive. An issue finance spokespersons have raised time and again is the fact the White Paper is presented on the Friday before the budget. That is not a great position. While there is a constitutional requirement for the White Paper to be produced and to be accurate, can provisional White Papers be produced a couple of weeks earlier providing the best guesstimate which would enhance the process?

The budget proposals from the Government do not seem to address the role of the new budgetary committee that is to be established. It refers to sectoral committees. Is there a reason for that?

What role does the Minister think the budgetary committee would or should have? For example, the programme for Government is not costed. Does the Minister believe that the budgetary committee should have a view on or examine why the programme for Government is not costed?

Does the Minister support the idea of an independent parliamentary budget office, which would be a costings unit and would be available to a new budgetary committee, political parties and Independent Deputies in terms of policies, Bills, manifestoes, etc., independently of the Departments of Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, while drawing on the expertise, experience and information of those two Departments and the Revenue Commissioners?