Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 April 2012
51 Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Finance if he will outline the impact of reduced growth figures for the last two quarters on the budget deficit, on employment and on his fiscal targets for 2012 and 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19297/12]
View answerThe Budget Day forecasts had anticipated reduced year-on-year growth rates in the second half of 2011 relative to the first half of the year. These forecasts turned out to be broadly in line with the preliminary figures for 2011 provided in the latest Quarterly National Accounts published last month. The recent Q1 Exchequer Returns illustrate that tax receipts are in line with expectations. This demonstrates the robustness of the Budget day forecasts and provides assurance that we are on course to meet 2012 and 2013 targets.
The latest available employment data is from the Quarterly National Household Survey relating to Q4 2011. This showed that employment increased marginally between Q3 2011 and Q4 2011 — the first time a quarterly increase in employment was observed since 2007. While this is encouraging, it is too early to draw conclusions and I will wait on further data to inform my views regarding developments in the labour market.
As is required by all Member States, Ireland will be providing a Stability Programme Update (SPU) to the European Commission by the end of April. As part of this process, my Department is reassessing the macroeconomic and fiscal outlook which takes into account all the latest available information. This re-evaluation will be contained in the SPU.
