Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move:

That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to amend the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2012 to allow the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council to review the policies and proposals of opposition political parties in advance of each Budget and report on whether their approach is conducive to prudent economic and budgetary management.

The Fiscal Responsibility (Amendment) Bill 2019 would see Opposition spending demands and fiscal proposals scrutinised by the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, IFAC, ahead of every budget. As my colleague, Deputy Peter Burke, outlined earlier this year, Fianna Fáil made spending demands worth €4.35 billion in the first six months of this year alone, which motivated me to introduce this Bill. Given the chance, Fianna Fáil would lead this country down the path to financial ruin again. Its only clear policy is more spending demands at every juncture.

The absence of coherent, well thought out policies from the Opposition was made clear when Deputy Colm Brophy recently noted that just five out of 22 Fianna Fáil Front Bench TDs have produced policy papers since 2016, proving that Fianna Fáil is an empty vessel which lacks policies for a range of issues including Brexit, health, housing, broadband, climate, jobs and childcare.

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