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Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Updated Economic and Fiscal Position in Advance of Budget 2023: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Sep 2022)

Michael McGrath: It is only related to non-core measures.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Updated Economic and Fiscal Position in Advance of Budget 2023: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Sep 2022)

Michael McGrath: On what might emerge from the European Union proposals, we do not have all the details yet. When they are published they will be assessed. There is work ongoing across all the main Departments to try to determine what Ireland will ultimately receive in respect of those measures. However, we do not have sufficient detail at this point. It will be the end of September before the energy...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Updated Economic and Fiscal Position in Advance of Budget 2023: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Sep 2022)

Michael McGrath: Over the last couple of days, in Mullingar, many of our colleagues raised examples. I know the same is true of the Minister, Deputy Donohoe's party colleagues. They raised many examples across the country of three-fold, four-fold and even five-fold increases in energy costs for businesses, which are out of line with even the steep increases that households have had to endure. I think that...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Updated Economic and Fiscal Position in Advance of Budget 2023: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Sep 2022)

Michael McGrath: I would be the first to acknowledge that the impact of inflation is across the board. Public services that I would be seeking to agree a budget for in the next couple of weeks include the cost of running our schools, which the Deputy touched on, hospitals, public transport systems and food, which is so important in different parts of our public service. All of these costs have increased....

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Updated Economic and Fiscal Position in Advance of Budget 2023: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Sep 2022)

Michael McGrath: I will amplify one point the Minister for Finance made, which is that our approach is not to pick a figure and then backfit a package to that.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Updated Economic and Fiscal Position in Advance of Budget 2023: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Sep 2022)

Michael McGrath: We are working on the basis of putting together and formulating what we think is an appropriate package. Of course, that has to fit within-----

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Updated Economic and Fiscal Position in Advance of Budget 2023: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Sep 2022)

Michael McGrath: That is a policy decision we must make and finalise in the next couple of weeks. It is a fundamental one but we also have to be conscious that this period of very high levels of energy costs may not be very shortlived. That is a reality the Government must also take into account. However, it is a good thing that we are in a situation where the actual outturn for the year, the surplus, will...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Updated Economic and Fiscal Position in Advance of Budget 2023: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Sep 2022)

Michael McGrath: Yes. I will just restate that we are not relying on any particular sum of revenue from any EU initiatives that we are baking into our budgetary position. The revenues that will be derived from its final decisions as applied to Ireland can be given back to people in a number of different ways. It could be directly through network charges, for example, or it could come back by way of...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Updated Economic and Fiscal Position in Advance of Budget 2023: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Sep 2022)

Michael McGrath: We expect to have more clarity in a short number of weeks, certainly within a three-week period. We are working on the basis of the information we have. I think it is important to make that commitment, however. We do not wish to use any revenues we receive from those initiatives to enhance the fiscal position of the State. The purpose of raising those revenues is to help people struggling...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Updated Economic and Fiscal Position in Advance of Budget 2023: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Sep 2022)

Michael McGrath: I will add that the Deputy raised a number of specific questions relating to different areas of expenditure. All I can do is acknowledge the points he has made, one of which is that an increase in income because of a Government decision in the budget to increase a particular payment should not result in somebody losing an important secondary benefit. That is an important point made by the...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Updated Economic and Fiscal Position in Advance of Budget 2023: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Sep 2022)

Michael McGrath: The Deputy has homed in on the available resources for new initiatives and new measures. Core spending will increase by €5.7 billion. That is the scale of the overall package. There is some rebalancing in that we are now bringing approximately €700 million of that forward into the current year in the event the public service pay deal is ratified. However, it is still a...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Updated Economic and Fiscal Position in Advance of Budget 2023: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Sep 2022)

Michael McGrath: -----as being appropriate. If we go beyond that and we get to much higher levels of core expenditure growth, it will bring us into very dangerous territory and we are not prepared to go there.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Updated Economic and Fiscal Position in Advance of Budget 2023: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Sep 2022)

Michael McGrath: I thank the Deputy for raising that matter. I am sorry to hear about the company in his constituency.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Updated Economic and Fiscal Position in Advance of Budget 2023: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Sep 2022)

Michael McGrath: That is absolutely the case. The Deputy has raised a particular example. It is always deeply regrettable when people are given notice like that. I hope it will not materialise in that particular case. We can only restate our understanding and acknowledgement that for many businesses, the situation is serious. We know that some businesses have the capacity to absorb the additional costs....

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Updated Economic and Fiscal Position in Advance of Budget 2023: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Sep 2022)

Michael McGrath: I will not address all of them but I will respond out of courtesy. I thank Deputy Healy-Rae for coming in and making that contribution. The measures that we will announce the week after next will be meaningful. I am sure they will not satisfy everybody and that we will not be able to meet every need and ambition. We will try to focus on what really matters in the budget, which is the...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Updated Economic and Fiscal Position in Advance of Budget 2023: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Sep 2022)

Michael McGrath: I thank Deputy Farrell. I acknowledge she has been here since the beginning of the meeting, which we appreciate. Health expenditure is a challenging and complex area, as she knows. There is a close working relationship between the officials in my Department, the Department of Health and the HSE. There is a dedicated group, the health budget oversight group, which meets regularly to tease...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Updated Economic and Fiscal Position in Advance of Budget 2023: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Sep 2022)

Michael McGrath: I thank Deputy Ryan very much. I will address some of those points and the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, will respond to the Deputy as well. In the course of our pre-budget discussions, we have met a wide range of stakeholders, including groups representing older people. We are two practising politicians who have been elected like Deputy Ryan and we are very much in touch with...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Updated Economic and Fiscal Position in Advance of Budget 2023: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Sep 2022)

Michael McGrath: Yes, it is very much part of our discussions. The line Departments that come to us with individual measures cannot see the totality of the picture but because we sit at the centre and are responsible for putting together the budget, we have to make sure the overall mix is correct and we get the right balance in relation to the issues the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, just touched on. In...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Updated Economic and Fiscal Position in Advance of Budget 2023: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Sep 2022)

Michael McGrath: We have staff from the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service spread throughout Departments and they have a very detailed understand and knowledge of frameworks such as equality budgeting, the well-being framework and so on. That is the reason we are increasingly finding that proposals that come to us already have a distributional analysis done. I see in my interaction with...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Updated Economic and Fiscal Position in Advance of Budget 2023: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Sep 2022)

Michael McGrath: It is an ongoing process. I reassure the Chairman that we do not see this as a box-ticking exercise. It is inherent in the budget process, which is all year around. All of these processes are embedded in the range of publications we produce throughout the calendar year.