Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

There is a lot of talk about new politics in this Dáil and many of us are wondering what exactly it means. From my point of view it means more collaboration or trying to seek consensus between different parties and different sides of the House. In the Dáil reform committee meetings one of the aspects to which we returned many times was the recommendation contained in the OECD report on how we budget and how we spend our money or allocate the spending of our money.

The Tánaiste will be aware that the OECD report said the Parliament needed to be involved at every stage, have access to information in a timely manner and be involved in the decision-making process before the real decisions are taken. Maybe we would not have so many problems, such as the waste charge issue today, if everybody was involved from the earliest stage in examining whether a certain regulation would work. This is not insignificant but it affects everything. The process of how we do budgets and work together in framing them is very important.

I was very heartened when the Taoiseach, in response to a question on the Order of Business a few weeks ago, said there was a vital role for the committees, which we are establishing this week, in the process and that we had to get working this June and July rather than wait until autumn to adopt the OECD practices, which are good practices. The scoping committee on the budget scrutiny process met yesterday. We had a useful meeting in which the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Pascal Donohoe, acknowledged that we had to begin now, not wait for a 2018 process. On the question whether Government Departments would be able to present their bid proposals for the 2017 budget to the new committees this month and next month, the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, said we should begin the process now in terms of involving the Parliament in considering the options, where we might save money somewhere and spend it elsewhere.

The Minister, Deputy Donohoe, said he would contact his colleagues. I apologise for springing the following question on the Tánaiste before the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, has had a chance to talk to her. Will the Tánaiste and her Department be able, at the end of this month or next month, after the national economic dialogue or the Estimates process we are going through - I see the Tánaiste's Estimate here for this year - to present to the new committee some of the spending or saving proposals she may have to ensure the Parliament is involved properly in the 2017 budget process?

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