Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 23 September 2025

Committee on Budgetary Oversight

Pre-Budget Engagement (Resumed)

2:00 am

Photo of Edward TimminsEdward Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I can see scope in that area. The witnesses spoke earlier about the late 2020s and 2030s, about how we can see our demographics are changing, and how our pensions and healthcare costs are going to grow quite significantly over those terms. The lack of long-term budgeting is a problem. Does NERI do long-term budget forecasting for, say, five, ten or 15 years? I know it is a lot of guesswork, but some of the figures can be plugged in such as our healthcare and our pensions requirements. Does NERI do that? I know it is not going to be exact, but it tells you stuff and gives you information when you start plugging those figures in. Does NERI do that level of long-term forecasting in detail, rather than percentages and economic growth? Does NERI ever try doing that with hard numbers?