Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On Committee Stage the Minister, Deputy Noonan, made it clear that his position remained unchanged and that he did not believe there was a great deal of difference in principle between his position and that of Deputy Doherty. Analysis can play a very important part, but it should not be applied to everything, particularly in instances where we do not deem it necessary. If the cost in terms of time and resources is totally disproportionate to the yield from the analysis then it is not done.

This Government has carried out more economic impact assessments in respect of tax proposals than any other. There exists a concept in politics and public administration which is generally summed up as "analysis paralysis". We do not want to get into that situation, as the Government must govern. While we can examine everything all of our lives, there is a principle of proportionality, and the level of resources invested in carrying out analysis should be commensurate not only with the scale of expenditure involved but the scale of the resources available and not least the demands already placed on these resources in the preparation of budgets and finance Bills.

The programme for Government contains a commitment to require all public bodies to take due note of equality and human rights in carrying out their functions. Furthermore, the Cabinet handbook requires a statement on the likely effects of the decision sought on equality and on persons who are experiencing or are at risk of poverty or social exclusion, and they must be included in the memorandum for Government. Consequently, the Government does not consider each of these important issues at individual policy or programme level.

I remind the Deputy that the State and its bodies take provisions of equality legislation into account in the development and delivery of policies and services. I also remind the Deputy that a distribution analysis of taxation measures is performed based on various income levels for various categories of income earners. These categories include single individuals, married one-earner couples with no children and married one-earner couples with children. A distribution analysis which models the impact on disposable income by income decile using SWITCH, the ESRI tax benefit model, is also undertaken in evaluating various taxation options. Examples continue to be included every year in the budget documents.

In future, as part of our annual budget, Ireland will submit a draft budgetary plan to the Commission no later than 15 October. This is a requirement of Regulation 473/2013, which specifies that all euro area member states not in a macroeconomic adjustment programme will be required to submit this plan. As part of the materials supplied, Article 6(3)(d) requires, where possible, the inclusion of indications of the expected distribution impact of the main expenditure and revenue measures. This distribution analysis will be conducted using the SWITCH model, as has been the case in previous budgets. Information contained in the draft budgetary plan sent to the Commission will also be included in the budget booklets distributed to Members of the Oireachtas.

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