Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 30 November 2022

Committee on Budgetary Oversight

Fiscal Assessment Report: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council

Mr. Sebastian Barnes:

Absolutely. We agree and we disagree, as we did then. We agree on the idea that temporary measures are necessary, warranted and sustainable. Using one-off measures is a helpful tool that can complement permanent measures. The difference is that in our reasoning, we see the amount of corporation tax as not being a relevant factor in this discussion. The fact that corporation tax money is coming in is helpful as it boosts the public finances in the years ahead and helps reduce debt. There are many good things around that, but the amount that comes in should not dictate how much we spend because of this constraint in terms of not putting too much money into the economy.