Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I have received apologies from Deputy Pat Deering.

Before I begin, I welcome all the members to this meeting of the Committee on Budgetary Oversight. I am delighted to be selected as chairwoman or chairperson, and I look forward to working with all of the members.

As members will be aware, this committee was established in 2016 to consider national issues affecting public expenditure policy, Exchequer revenue receipts and the overall fiscal position. The aim of this committee is to engage in a meaningful way with the budget process, to offer more transparency on how budgetary decisions are made, and to hold the Government to account for its decisions and, more importantly, how taxpayers' money is spent. I look forward to working with the committee members to develop a focused work programme, especially when it comes to carrying out the scrutiny of budget proposals in advance of the budget.

I now propose to move to the business of the committee and to deal with a number of housekeeping issues.