Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister described the Fiscal Advisory Council’s recent report as “interesting pieces of analysis”. It is much more than that because it made some very sharp criticisms. It should be possible to establish, as a matter of fact, whether it is accurate. It states, for example, that the SPU the Minister presented and the budgetary projections do not take account of explicit Government commitments to reduce taxes beyond next year. In other words, the €1.5 billion the Minister promised in the budget for 2016 in terms of tax cuts and spending increases is factored in but the Minister has gone on the record as having said we will be in a position for expansionary budgets up to 2020, including tax cuts. The Fiscal Advisory Council claims that is not factored into the numbers and the budget projections. Similarly, it makes a very strong criticism that the likely cost of demographic aging, in terms of pressures on certain areas of public services, health and education are not factored in as well as the delivery of existing programmes. That is not an interesting piece of analysis. The Minister should be able to establish, as a matter of fact, whether it is accurate or inaccurate. The House needs the answers to those questions.

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