Shane Ross (Dublin South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his reply. The problem is that the fiscal advisory council has continually made statements and issued 11 reports but the Government picks and chooses what it likes from those reports but does not take much notice of anything that it does not like. The council has indicated that the Government is ignoring, in its own forecasts, the tax and expenditure statements it has already made for 2016. There is no question that we will reach our deficit target of 3% this year but the council has argued that for 2016, the Government has refused to acknowledge its own forecasts of spending pressures, tax reductions and other very important matters. This would affect the budget adjustment, which the Minister has correctly stated is €1.2 billion to €1.5 billion. The fiscal advisory council has argued it would be far more appropriate at a level of nearly half that number, or €700 million. Does the Minister intend to take that advice or ignore it?

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