The final details of the budget are decided by the Government and are not made known to individuals or groups outside the Government system until budget day. As the Deputy will be aware, we are in a programme of financial support with the EU and the IMF. The programme documents include a commitment to publish a budget to achieve a specified level of consolidation. The commitment provides broad indications of how this is to be achieved. As part of our programme, we are obliged to share some information with the EU Commission, the ECB and the IMF – the external partners, especially during the quarterly review missions. In this context, the continuing conditions listed at the start of the memorandum on specific economic policy conditionality include the following provision:
"To facilitate programme monitoring, the authorities will provide the European Commission, the ECB and the IMF with:..... All information required to monitor progress during programme implementation and to track the economic and financial situation." Such information is shared on a confidential basis, with the understanding that its circulation is restricted. This includes technical information on the options for revenue and expenditure measures which could be considered to meet the fiscal consolidation targets already specified. Any such options are clearly signalled as being subject to Government decision. This information flow is part of the process needed to facilitate the evaluation of the performance to date, and also, to provide assurance to the EU, ECB, and the IMF that there are options available to enable us meet our commitments.
The quarterly review process is an integral part of our financial support programme. The process starts with a review mission and ends with consideration and approval by the EU (Commission and Council) and the IMF executive board. Following each review mission the external partners and the Irish authorities agree updated programme documents, specifically the letters of intent, the memorandum of understanding on specific economic policy conditionality, the memorandum of economic and financial policies and the technical memorandum of understanding. Once finalised, the Letters of Intent are signed jointly by the Minister for Finance and the Governor of the Central Bank and are issued to the EU and the IMF, along with the accompanying programme documents. These documents are laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas and placed on the Department of Finance website following their transmission. In the event that these documents are issued prior to Budget Day, they will not include budget day details as mentioned above.
