Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 April 2013
204. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance if he will confirm the date on which Budget 2014 will be presented to Dáil Éireann; and if he will outline the key budget processes and documents to be published, antecedent to the delivery of Budget 2014. [18458/13]
View answerUnder the draft regulations known as the "two-pack" which are expected to be formally adopted in May or June, a common budgetary timeline is being introduced for all Euro area member states. Specifically:
- the draft budget for central government and the main parameters of the draft budgets for all the other sub-sectors of the general government must be published by 15 October each year;
- draft budgetary plans in a common format must be submitted by all Euro area Member States not in a programme of assistance; and
- the budget for the central government must be adopted or fixed upon and published by 31 December each year.
In light of these requirements, the Government has decided to bring Budget Day forward from the first week in December to on or before 15 October from now on. This means that Budget 2014 will be presented and published on Tuesday, 15 October this year. The Government has also decided that the Finance Bill should complete its passage through the Oireachtas by 31 December each year. This timeline will be considerably shorter than the present requirement that it must be enacted within 120 days of the Budget. Under the new arrangements, the Finance Bill will have to be passed 65 to 70 days after the Budget.
Following the Government decision on the timing of the budget, the Departments of Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform are considering the follow-on implications of moving both Budget Day and the Finance Bill forward. However, the key change relates to the timing and, as I have stated before, it means that Government will have to make its budgetary decisions much earlier in the year. It is the intention of both Departments to keep all bodies that contribute to the Budget and Finance Bill processes fully informed of changes so that they can plan accordingly.
There is another requirement in the "two-pack", namely that the macroeconomic forecasts on which the Budget is based must be independently endorsed. Implementation of this requirement is still under consideration. As regards documents to be published antecedent to the delivery of Budget 2014, the Stability Programme Update will be published by the end of April, as usual. It has been normal practice in the last few years to publish a medium-term fiscal statement or equivalent in October/November. As this overlaps with the new budgetary timetable, this is likely to be consolidated into the budget publication from now on. The requirements regarding the White Paper on Expenditure and Receipts have not been altered by these changes.
Finally, the Government will decide later in the budgetary process whether to submit a draft budgetary plan in the common format as Ireland is exempt from this requirement because it is in a programme.
