Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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117. To ask the Minister for Finance the reason the National Economic Dialogue will operate in such a narrow way, as per his letter of invitation which, for example, states that the fiscal space will be shared on a 50:50 basis, between expenditure and tax measures. [24535/15]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Firstly, I would point out that the Government is not of the view that the National Economic Dialogue will operate in a narrow way.  As was stated in the invitation letter, the objective of the dialogue is to facilitate an open and inclusive exchange on the competing and social priorities facing the Government as we prepare for Budget 2016.  It will be informed by the macro-economic and fiscal parameters, including the EU budgetary framework, which were set out in the SES.

As stated in the Stability Programme Update (SPU) and the Spring Economic Statement (SES) the 2016 forecast provides for a budgetary package of around €1.2 billion to €1.5 billion.  The Government decided at the time of the SPU/SES that the strategy should be to allocate the fiscal space evenly between revenue and expenditure measures.

I believe that it is important to provide clarity and a structure that is consistent with the fiscal strategy for 2016.   It is anticipated that such an approach will maximise and deliver a more genuine and robust dialogue which the Government will reflect on in deciding on Budget 2016.  We also hope that the discussions will assist participants in preparing their pre-Budget submissions.