Results 16,461-16,480 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Jun 2013)
Brendan Howlin: I move amendment No. 23: In page 5, before section 2, to insert the following new section:3.—The Fiscal Responsibility Act 2012 is amended in section 8 by substituting the following for subsection (4):“(4) The Fiscal Council shall—(a) endorse, as it considers appropriate, the macroeconomic forecasts prepared by the Department of Finance on which the Budget and stability...
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Jun 2013)
Brendan Howlin: This amendment is part of the legislative steps to bring the budgetary reforms that we have agreed to at European level into statute law here. A number of changes to our budgetary process are being introduced and the Bill, as amended, should complete all the necessary changes required before next year's budget. On the Deputy's question, this is the legislative vehicle we have before the end...
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Jun 2013)
Brendan Howlin: I asked that question of the Parliamentary Counsel.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Jun 2013)
Brendan Howlin: No.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Jun 2013)
Brendan Howlin: The independent macroeconomic forecast is defined in the definition under Article 2 of the two pack regulation. "Macroeconomic forecast" means macroeconomic forecasts produced or endorsed by independent bodies, as opposed to state bodies.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Jun 2013)
Brendan Howlin: I will come back to it. On the Deputy's first point about the word "endorse", it seems in plain English that it is required to endorse, but that is like saying it is required to give a judgment. I asked the Parliamentary Counsel about the words "shall endorse". That means it shall make a determination in terms of endorsing.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Jun 2013)
Brendan Howlin: No, in legal language I am advised by the Parliamentary Counsel that "shall endorse" means either shall endorse or shall not endorse. It is entitled to do either and that is captured by the phrase used.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Jun 2013)
Brendan Howlin: I am afraid so.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Jun 2013)
Brendan Howlin: With all due respect to the Deputy, the Parliamentary Counsel advises on the legal language used.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Jun 2013)
Brendan Howlin: We will stick with what we have in front of us today.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Jun 2013)
Brendan Howlin: That sounds eminently sensible to me.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Jun 2013)
Brendan Howlin: Yes, but I am not the Parliamentary Counsel. For the avoidance of doubt, I will go back to the Parliamentary Counsel between now and Report Stage.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Jun 2013)
Brendan Howlin: I will ask.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Jun 2013)
Brendan Howlin: I asked the same question and I am assured, with regard to reading it into the formal record-----
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Jun 2013)
Brendan Howlin: I will do that.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Jun 2013)
Brendan Howlin: The original fiscal responsibility legislation, now the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2012, outlines what an official forecast is in the definition section. It means the macroeconomic and budgetary forecasts published by the Department of Finance for the purpose of fiscal planning and known as the spring forecasts and the autumn forecasts.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Jun 2013)
Brendan Howlin: The macroeconomic forecasts are produced by the Department in the context of the budget and are subject to the changes implicit in the budget. They represent the pre-budgetary position.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Jun 2013)
Brendan Howlin: Correct. There are different forecasts because of the different timings.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Jun 2013)
Brendan Howlin: Two different perspectives on the horizon as one moves closer to it.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Jun 2013)
Brendan Howlin: I will take more advice. Plain English is not often exactly what the parliamentary draftsmen determine as legal text.