Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 8 December 2021
Committee on Budgetary Oversight
Fiscal Assessment Report: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council
Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis na finnéithe as teacht os comhair an choiste. This has been quite an interesting discussion so far. IFAC noted in its recent fiscal assessment report that we have stayed within the fiscal rules, but it notes elsewhere the risk of GDP declining in the medium term due to changes in the international tax regime. Do the witnesses believe that if the fiscal rules were to remain unchanged and GDP were to fall, meaning our debt would rise as a proportion of it, we would find ourselves constrained in respect of countercyclical spending at a time we needed it most? Do they have concerns in this regard?