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Committee on Budgetary Oversight has agreed a Pre-Stability Programme Update Report

8 Apr 2022, 11:52

The Committee on Budgetary Oversight has agreed a Pre-Stability Programme Update Report in which it makes a series of recommendations and observations following detailed examination of the issue.

Launching the report, Deputy Neasa Hourigan, Cathaoirleach of the Committee said “The Stability Programme Update (SPU) is an important part of the budgetary process. In this report the Committee on Budgetary Oversight has committed to greater scrutiny of the SPU.”

Deputy Hourigan said “Pre-SPU scrutiny is an annual component of the Committee’s work programme and enables the Committee to have an informed engagement with the Minister of Finance on the medium-term fiscal strategy.”

The Deputy added “The Committee has set out some risks to the economy that will have to be considered and addressed in fiscal policy. Inflation and the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine will have a significant impact on the Irish economy and the require fiscal responses. The Committee looks forward to engaging with the Minister of Finance on these issues and the draft SPU.”

Read the Pre-Stability Programme Update report 2022

 

Recommendations made in the report include:

·       The Committee recommends that any further measures to address the cost-of-living crisis should be targeted at lower income, rural and older households. This will help ensure that the most impacted households receive support and limit the potential of adding to inflationary pressures.

·       The Committee recommends that all future measures should be accompanied by an analysis of the expected impact on different households and income deciles.

·       The Committee notes that there are ongoing discussions around the EU fiscal rules and recommends that the Government push strongly for certain well-defined expenditure areas, such as climate and public housing spending, be excluded from the fiscal rules.

·       The Committee notes that the impact of the current inflationary pressures impacts differently on different households and due to the make-up of the current pressures low-income, rural and older households are most impacted.

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