Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)
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Question 22: To ask the Minister for Finance if the State has met the targets set out in the Memorandum of Understanding with respect to the Fiscal Advisory Council and the reform of the legal, medical and accounting professions. [25640/12]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for our EU/IMF Programme of financial assistance was signed in December 2010, and following each of the subsequent quarterly reviews by the Troika, an update of the MoU is agreed. Each update to the MoU can include the continuation of or revisions to existing commitments along with new commitments.

The EU/IMF Programme commitments in relation to the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council have been met in full to date. The commitment in relation to the Fiscal Advisory Council was initially included in the MoU of December 2010. This provided that the Fiscal Advisory Council would be established by end-June 2011. The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council was established at the end of June 2011 on a non-statutory basis and commenced operations the following month thereby meeting this commitment.

A further requirement was included in the updated Memorandum of Understanding following the third review in July 2011 to provide for the statutory establishment of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council in the Fiscal Responsibility Bill to be submitted to the Oireachtas by the end of December 2011. In light of the reform of the Stability and Growth Pact implemented by the so called "six pack" of five regulations and one directive and the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union ("the Stability Treaty") it was agreed to revise the deadline for the submission of the Fiscal Responsibility Bill a number of times in subsequent missions.

The most recent update to the MoU (signed in March 2012) includes a commitment, under the heading Structural Fiscal Reform, to be met by end-Q2 2012 which is:

"Fiscal Framework

Government will introduce a Fiscal Responsibility Bill consistent with the economic governance framework at the EU level, including provisions for a medium-term budgetary framework and fiscal rules. The Bill will also put the Fiscal Advisory Council on a statutory footing, formalising the Council's independence through clear arrangements for adequate funding over time and for Council membership, including consultation with the relevant committee of the Oireachtas for nomination, appointment, extension and termination."

On 26 April 2012, in the context of ensuring that the public will be fully informed on the implications of the Stability Treaty and have access to all available information to enable them to make an informed decision, I published a General Scheme of a Bill to be called the Fiscal Responsibility Bill. This sets out the draft legislation that the Government will bring before the Houses of the Oireachtas to implement key provisions of the Stability Treaty, if the Irish people decide to ratify the Stability Treaty in the forthcoming referendum. The General Scheme includes provision for the establishment of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council on a statutory basis as it will be the independent institution at national level with responsibility for monitoring compliance with the rules set out in Article 3 of the Stability Treaty. A copy of the General Scheme was circulated to all Members of the Oireachtas and it is available on the Department of Finance's website.

While issues relating to the reform of the legal, medical and accounting professions are matters for the Ministers of Justice and Equality, Health, and Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation respectively, I have been informed as follows.

On the issue of reform of the legal profession, the Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011 provides the statutory framework for delivering those structural reforms undertaken in the EU/IMF Memorandum of Understanding on Specific Economic Policy Conditionality aimed at removing restrictions to trade and competition in the legal sector.

The Legal Services Regulation Bill commenced Second Stage in the Dáil on 16th December 2011 which was completed on 23rd February 2012. In closing the Second Stage debate Minister Shatter outlined the approaches being taken to enhancing the Bill in preparation for Committee Stage – the objective is to commence Committee Stage before the summer recess.

On the issue of reform of the medical profession the EU/IMF programme provides for the introduction of legislative changes to remove restrictions to trade and competition in sheltered sectors by the end of the 3rd quarter in 2011, including medical services, eliminating restrictions on the number of GPs qualifying and removing restrictions on GPs wishing to treat public patients as well as restrictions on advertising.

Targets were met in relation to medical services:

· The Health (Provision of General Practitioner Services) Act 2012 came into effect on 12th March 2012; the Bill was published on 30th September 2011. This Act provides for the elimination of restrictions on GPs wishing to obtain contracts to treat public patients under the GMS Scheme by opening up access to all fully qualified and vocationally trained GPs.

· Legislation was not required for the other elements:

· Restrictions on advertising by GPs had already been eliminated.

· A "practice based assessment model" has been developed to evaluate and implement an appropriate fast-track training scheme for doctors who have extensive experience in Irish General Practice, but who lack some component of training making them ineligible for specialist registration.

There is no commitment in any of the Memoranda of Understanding relating to reform of the accountancy profession.