Appointment of Director of the Parliamentary Budget Office in the Houses of the Oireachtas

Following a Houses of the Oireachtas Commission meeting this morning, Ceann Comhairle and Chairperson of the Commission Seán Ó Fearghaíl TD is pleased to announce that Ms Annette Connolly has been appointed to the position of Director of the Parliamentary Budget Office.

Speaking after the meeting the Ceann Comhairle said “I wish to extend my congratulations to Annette on her appointment as Director of the Parliamentary Budget Office. The establishment of the Parliamentary Budget Office as an independent specialist unit within the Houses of Oireachtas Service represents a major development in the financial and budgetary scrutiny capacity of the Oireachtas."

"As Director she will have overall responsibility for establishing, developing and leading the Parliamentary Budget Office as a source of independent and impartial information, analysis and advice on a par with comparator offices internationally and in accordance with the principles outlined by the OECD in 2015. In that regard the Parliamentary Budget Office will be a key source of financial and budgetary intelligence for Oireachtas Members and in particular for the Committee on Budget Oversight as it conducts ex-ante scrutiny of all budgetary matters. I wish her every success in her new role”

Additional Information

Ms Connolly joins the Houses of the Oireachtas from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform where she was head of the Central Expenditure Management Policy Unit and has

• extensive experience of the budgetary process

• successfully led the preparation of Expenditure Estimates for Budget Day

• was involved in the establishment of the Euro Changeover Board Ireland and in EU Working Groups on the introduction of the Euro and PPPs

• represented Ireland’s interests in EU and OECD fora

• extensive first hand knowledge of both the domestic and international parliamentary/legislative process, including bringing forward the annual Appropriation Act and various Statutory Instruments and involvement in the EMU and EU Structural Funds Regulations

• lead and guided the preparations for the National Economic Dialogue including selection of themes, discussion papers

• developed a series of infrastructure stimulus packages to supplement planned capital investment to enhance infrastructure and support employment creation

• successfully negotiated loan funding of €400m for exchequer capital projects from the EIB

• established Ireland’s membership of the European PPP Expertise Centre

• responsibility for monitoring and controls of the cross border funds in D/Finance.

ENDS

Further Information:

Verona Ní Bhroinn
Public Relations Officer
Houses of the Oireachtas
Leinster House
Dublin 2
Ph: 01 6183881
Mobile: 0872624132
Email: verona.nibhroinn@oireachtas.ie