Written answers

Tuesday, 17 January 2017

Department of Finance

Fiscal Compact Treaty

Photo of Joan BurtonJoan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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296. To ask the Minister for Finance the way in which he is addressing the concern raised by his officials in a briefing note prepared by his Department on his re-appointment to the finance portfolio that Ireland is at risk of breaching EU rules which constrain the rate at which spending can increase in 2017; the impact of the recent revised Estimates for health and justice on this potential breach; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1671/17]

Photo of Michael NoonanMichael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The briefing the Deputy is referring to was prepared following the general election last year and, as a result, it was drafted prior to the reclassification by EUROSTAT of the 2015 conversion of the AIB preference shares to ordinary shares as general Government expenditure. This increased expenditure for 2015 on a one-off basis by circa €2.1 billion, which built a significant buffer into the calculation of Ireland's compliance with the expenditure benchmark in 2016, thereby significantly reducing the risk of breaching the benchmark. There is no carry-through impact from this one-off transaction on the calculation 2017 expenditure benchmark.

The briefing does not raise issues in relation to potential rule breaches in 2017.  Indeed in its assessment of Ireland's Draft Budgetary Plan for 2017, the European Commission in October last year found Ireland to be broadly compliant with the provisions of the Stability and Growth pact (SGP).

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