Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 1 July 2025
Committee on Budgetary Oversight
Fiscal Assessment Report: Engagement with the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council
2:00 am
Mr. Seamus Coffey:
It would be good to get to the position where budgets are set two, three or four years in advance so that we know we will be able to this additional thing in two years' time or three years' time. We very much have a one-year focus where we do not do long-term planning. It is a case of only announcing what we are doing now and funding what we are doing now and in 12 months' time we will come back for the year after. If we set out a plan for two or three, we cannot do everything at once. Of course, it sounds like we are delaying something or not doing it quickly enough but doing it in three years' time and not announcing it now or doing it now for three years' time are much the same, but one is much more planned and organised. This approach of multi-year financing is something we have long called for.