Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 22: To ask the Minister for Finance the date on which the Fiscal Advisory Council will be appointed; the number of members who will be appointed to this council; the frequency with which this council will report to the Dáil; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5405/11]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The establishment of an independent Fiscal Advisory Council is a key aspect of budgetary reform which the Government is committed to implementing under the terms of the Government Programme. My Department is already working towards strengthening fiscal and budgetary procedures, including the establishment of a Fiscal Council. I hope to review this work shortly and consider how best it can inform the wider debate on budgetary reform.

I will bring forward in due course detailed proposals, including those relating to an establishment date, membership of the Council and the nature and extent of its reporting relationship with Dáil Éireann. Furthermore, I would like to remind the Deputy that under the EU/IMF Programme of Financial Support, Ireland is obliged to establish such a Council by the end of June 2011.

It is very important for the effectiveness of the Council that it will be, and will be seen to be, transparent in its work and activities. With this in mind, it is intended that the modelling assumptions and inputs of the Fiscal Advisory Council will, as far as possible, be open to public scrutiny and its outputs would be freely available to external bodies, including, in particular, the opposition parties.

The House will be aware that the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance and the Public Service produced a detailed report in November 2010 entitled "Macroeconomic Policy and Fiscal and Economic Governance". This report included proposals in respect of a Budget Review Council which would, among other things, evaluate fiscal policy outcomes relative to targets as well as the sustainability of the fiscal position adopted by Government.