Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I move amendment No. 12:

In page 8, between lines 15 and 16, to insert the following subsection:

"(5) The Minister shall—

(a) within 20 days of the passing of this Act lay before the Houses of the Oireachtas, with the approval of the Minister for Finance, details of key procedures, ministerial responsibilities and target dates for each principal element involved in the preparation, announcement and enactment of the annual estimates of expenditure and such other financial measures as may be relevant to annual measures concerning the public finance of the State,

and

(b) where necessary, update these details no later than the 20th day of January each year.".

The purpose of this amendment is to ask the Minister, within 20 days of the passing of this Act, to lay before the House details of the key procedures, responsibilities and timetables regarding the announcement and enactment of the annual Estimates procedure. The Minister of State should flesh out what precisely will be the procedures and what will happen. Heretofore, in the run-up to the summer recess, the Minister for Finance has sent very strict letters to each Minister directing them to prepare their Estimates with reductions in expenditure or advising them of the overall economic position. The Ministers commence work on conducting their Estimates discussions over the summer and then come back in September, after which bilateral meetings take place. In the past, one might meet a line Minister in the Chamber who would mention being obliged to leave to take part in a bilateral meeting with the Minister for Finance to discuss his or her departmental Estimate for the forthcoming year. The issues concerned were quite important because the line Department's officials would have flagged the key issues they wanted the Minister in question to defend.

I understand that, from henceforth, this will all be done with the Minister, Deputy Howlin. I seek a framework, timescale or structure in this regard. A structure is in place at present and there has been a move to the unified Estimates and budgets procedure within the past year or so. Previously, Estimates used to appear around the beginning of November, after which a debate on them would take place and, thereafter, the budget was presented at the beginning of December. This was a nonsensical way of doing business as no company, business or organisation can pass its budget in two halves, that is, by considering what it might spend in one month and assessing what income it might raise in another. This process rightly will now take place in a single procedure.

While the Minister of State need not do so today, I ask that shortly after this Bill's enactment, the timescale involved might be outlined. I suggest the Minister should outline the structure and the timetable in January of each year. Perhaps the Minister of State could give a brief outline of how he perceives the practicalities involved in having the Minister deal with the annual Estimates process and his dealings with each individual Department. The taking control of the Estimates procedure from the Minister for Finance is the key element of this Bill and the Minister of State should provide some information as to how he envisages it will work out.

See this speech in context