Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for tabling amendment No. 21. This point was raised on Committee Stage in the Dáil by Deputy Michael McGrath of Fianna Fáil. He put forward a similar proposal which required the Fiscal Council to provide an assessment of a policy proposal when requested to do so in writing by a committee of Dáil Éireann. The proposal was rejected by the Minister, Deputy Noonan, who said it would not be acceptable under the common principles as it could be seen as a threat to the independence of the council. One concern expressed to the Department by the Fiscal Council during the preparation of the legislation was the possibility that a Minister would allocate additional functions without additional resources. This concern was echoed by the troika. The Minister, Deputy Noonan, took that on board by ensuring that the functions of the Fiscal Council, as stated in the Bill, do not provide for additional functions to be given to the council. The allocation of additional functions will require amending legislation which would ensure an opportunity to discuss appropriately matching resources. The same point applies to this amendment. I am sure the Senator does not intend this, but demanding that the council appear to discuss the attainment and retention of fiscal stability in front of any or all of the committees of the Oireachtas would be akin to giving the Oireachtas a blank cheque to demand its input on issues of fiscal stability for any policy and could put pressure on the council?s performance of its essential duties.

The critical task we are asking the council to do in terms of the performance of its functions is set out in section 8. That is what we are asking it to do in accepting the legislation. Senator Barrett may be confusing this with another aspect of the provisions relating to the council's appearance before committees, as outlined in section 11 on page 14. This is to do with the appropriation of funds to an organisation, which is standard practice for any organisation funded by the Oireachtas for the performance of its duties. There might be some confusion as to what the position is in that regard. Reference to appearance before Oireachtas committees is a standard provision which appears in other Bills and provides for an agency such as the Fiscal Council to come before a committee to make sure it has used public funds appropriately.

I do not think we should confuse that with the essential functions as set out in section 8 of the Bill, which the fiscal council independently carries out and on which it independently reports to the Government. For those reasons, we do not propose to accept the amendment.

I am sorry that I am rejecting the amendments, but the debate is useful in obtaining clarity on the role of the council.