Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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A White Paper could be produced earlier in the year, perhaps in July. However, a White Paper will still have to be produced just before the budget, because the figures change as the year goes on. In order to provide accurate information before the budget, the practice has been to publish such a paper on the Friday night before the budget, with the Budget Statement envisaged to be delivered on the Tuesday or Wednesday of the following week.

Whatever we do by way of preliminary White Papers, there will still have to be a final White Paper in order to be accurate. That might lead to confusion and quite substantial variations between something that is produced in July and something that is produced on the Friday night before the budget. There is a conflict between providing information early and the accuracy of that information. I am quite prepared to work to see whether we can narrow that conflict as much as possible. However, there is a conflict because the situation develops as the year goes on until the weekend before the budget, and we finalise the details at that stage.

I refer to the budgetary office. I agree with the Deputy that it is a good idea. It should be within the control of the Houses of the Oireachtas and responsible to the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission. It does not come out of a departmental Vote - I understand the money comes from the Central Fund, and funding arrangements would have to be made on that basis.

We need something in place to ensure that two sets of costings would not be released. If the Deputy tables a parliamentary question to the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, to ask him what the annual cost of certain decisions would be and a budgetary office came up with a different figure, which is quite possible, we would need some mechanism to reconcile the figures. There would have to be a relationship between the budgetary office and the Departments of Public Expenditure and Reform and Finance, and perhaps line Departments, to allow the budgetary office to be independent while at the same time having some mechanism for reconciling figures.

We are in the business of doing things differently and having a bigger role for the Dáil and Parliament. I want to co-operate with that, and the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, has the same approach. We are not claiming any monopoly on wisdom. All we are doing today is outlining to the committee what we have decided, with its agreement, should happen this year. I understand the committee has a mandate as a type of scoping committee. It is not actually a budgetary committee. The committee can carry out exercises and advice can be provided, and we will see where things land. The ultimate objective is that there will be a greater role for the Parliament and more parliamentary input and scrutiny. That is the situation as I understand it.