Micheál Martin
Ceist:253 Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for Finance when the fiscal advisory council met last; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21528/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 22 May 2012
Ceisteanna (168)
Freagraí scríofa
The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council was established on a non-statutory basis in June 2011. Its mandate is to provide an assessment of, and to comment publicly on, whether the Government is meeting its own stated budgetary targets and objectives. The Council is also charged with assessing the appropriateness and soundness of the Government's fiscal stance and macroeconomic projections, as well as an assessment of the extent of compliance with the Government's fiscal rules.
The members of the five-person Council are:
Mr. Sebastian Barnes, OECD,
Professor Alan Barrett, TCD (on secondment from the ESRI),
Dr. Donal Donovan, University of Limerick (formerly IMF staff),
Professor John McHale, Head of Economics, NUI Galway and Chair of the Council, and
Dr. Róisín O'Sullivan, Associate Professor, Smith College, Massachusetts.
The Council currently operates on a non-statutory basis but is to be put on a statutory footing. Draft provisions to do this are contained in the General Scheme of a Fiscal Responsibility Bill 2012 which has been published as an information document in the context of the Referendum on the Fiscal Stability Treaty. The Council is to be the institution required under the Fiscal Stability Treaty to monitor observance of the fiscal rules to be provided for in national legislation under the Treaty. The draft legislation provides that the Council will be fully independent in the performance of its functions and the operation of its own procedures. The same principles apply while it operates on a non-statutory basis pending the enactment of establishing legislation.
In relation to its current activities, I am informed by the Council that the Council last met on 26 April 2012.
Question No. 254 answered with Question No. 249.