Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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220. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will report on his most recent engagements or correspondences with the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, particularly in advance of Budget 2022. [45258/21]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (Fiscal Council) has a mandate to provide a formal independent assessment of official budgetary forecasts, as well as providing its view on the Government’s fiscal stance in any given year.

Most recently, the Council published its annual pre-Budget statement. As ever, this is valuable analysis and I welcome the Council's contribution at an early stage of the budget process.

The Council’s core function under the Fiscal Responsibility Act involves it providing an independent assessment of the official macroeconomic forecasts which underpin the Budget and Stability Programme Update. The so-called ‘endorsement function’ requires the Council to “endorse, as it considers appropriate, the macroeconomic forecasts prepared by the Department of Finance on which the Budget and Stability Programme will be based”.

As part of this process, my officials are currently in discussions with members of the organisation’s Secretariat and governing Council on a formal and structured basis in preparation of the forecasts that will underpin Budget 2022.

In addition, officials from my Department and the Fiscal Council also engage in regular technical dialogue to ensure that the Council has a clear understanding of the Department’s forecasting methodologies and process.