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Economic Policy

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 21 April 2021

Wednesday, 21 April 2021

Questions (518)

Pearse Doherty

Question:

518. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance if the proposal with regard to the addition at European Council level of the words, by the use of secondary markets, to Ireland's 2018 country specific recommendations was made by Ireland; if not, the way that Ireland voted on the amendment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20004/21]

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Written answers

Country Specific Recommendations (CSRs) provide individual tailored guidance to Member States on macro-economic, budgetary and structural policies in accordance with Articles 121 and 148 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). These recommendations, issued by the European Commission as part of the framework of the European Semester for economic governance, are aimed at strengthening economic growth and job creation, while achieving or maintaining sound public finances and preventing excessive macroeconomic imbalances. Following discussions at the preparatory Council committees and adoption of the Country Specific Recommendations in Council, Member States are expected to implement the recommendations over the following 12-18 months.

As is usual practice, following the publication of the draft Country Specific Recommendations by the Commission in May 2018, Member States have the opportunity to discuss the recommendations and seek factual clarifications. Factual inaccuracies are highlighted and it is not uncommon for the text of the Country Specific Recommendations to be amended. This is done in the preparatory committees of Council. In the ECOFIN filiere, this work is carried out by the Economic Policy Committee (EPC) and the Economic and Finance Committee Alternates (EFC-A), before being approved by the Economic and Finance Committee and Finance Ministers at ECOFIN. A parallel set of discussions takes place in the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO) filière.

Both the draft, as circulated by the Commission, and final versions of Recital 18 of the Country Specific Recommendations proposed for Ireland in 2018 noted that a stronger consumer protection framework for secondary market loan sales could improve the viability of repossessions and write-offs.

Question No. 519 answered with Question No. 496.
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