Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 9 October 2013
6. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if the proposed new open government initiative will extend to increasing transparency and accountability in budgetary matters; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42473/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraFollowing Government approval, I submitted a letter expressing Ireland’s intent to participate in the Open Government Partnership on 15 May last. Therefore, Ireland has joined other newly implementing countries that are developing national action plans. The development of Ireland’s first national action plan is well under way. The participation of civil society in the Open Government Partnership process is fundamental to the development of the action plan. Proposals and recommendations for inclusion in the action plan were discussed at three public meetings of a network of civil society and other interests which were held over the summer months, as well as through online contributions. The report of a consultation with civil society representatives and citizens across Ireland on the Open Government Partnership process was submitted to me on 1 October. The report, which proposes a number of recommendations, is available on my Department’s website.
A number of the recommendations contained in the group's report focus on transparency and accountability. The proposals reflect a strong desire among citizens and civil society in general to be provided with the information they need to understand how decisions are made, how public funds are spent and how individuals and institutions are held to account. One of the recommendations involves improving the budgetary data, transparency and timelines. It reflects, inter alia, the view that there should be more public discussion and analysis of budgetary proposals.
The recommendations made in the course of the OGP consultation process are consistent with the Government's commitments to bring about a major transformation of Ireland's budgetary system. As the Deputy will be aware, a number of initiatives are under way which increase budget transparency and accountability. The key elements of the budgetary reform agenda were outlined in the public service reform plan published in November 2011. These reforms are the annual stability programme update published in April each year, a modern, multi-annual framework that has been put in place, departmental Estimates being presented in a different and more accessible format, a performance budgeting initiative being implemented, expenditure ceilings, which were on an administrative basis, now being on a statutory footing through the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Act 2013, and the Government increasing its ongoing scrutiny and evaluation of public expenditure, with all value for money studies now being published.
Additional information not given on the floor of the House
All of the foregoing reforms allow greater opportunities for Oireachtas Members, as representatives of the public, to play a more substantive role throughout the entire budgetary process, from initial allocation of funds through to holding Ministers and public service managers to account for the achievement, or non-achievement, of stated performance targets. Moreover, the Government is moving towards a whole-of-year budgetary timetable that allows for greater and more meaningful engagement by Oireachtas committees in contributing to Estimates discussions in advance of the allocations being finalised. In this regard, my Department has supported the Houses of the Oireachtas Service in piloting this new approach to briefing select committees. This framework of budgetary reform will facilitate further consideration of the proposals on budgetary transparency contained in the report of the consultation undertaken by civil society.
As part of the next phase of the Open Government Partnership process, I intend to bring a memorandum to Government shortly outlining the civil society group's report and submissions received. I expect, subject to Government approval, to establish a group comprising both public officials and civil society representatives who will give further consideration to all recommendations made, including on budgetary matters, and to prioritise in terms of what is realistic and achievable over the next two years for inclusion in the first action plan. Action plans cover a two year period and we will report on progress annually.
I think we would all agree that aspirations have still to become a reality. The self-appointed Economic Management Council has been widely criticised for falling beyond the reach of democratic oversight. Given the gravity of the decisions made concerning public expenditure and income, the budgetary process must be open to greater scrutiny. Surely, open government must include increased transparency and accountability, as discussed concerning the budget, if it is to be a meaningful initiative and not just a window dressing exercise, as it still appears to be. Will the increased transparency promised in the open government initiative mean that the Economic Management Council will be disbanded in favour of a meaningful engagement of Cabinet, Members of the Dáil and civil society when it comes to the budget? Will the Minister support proposals by civil society to include equality proofing of budgets and the publication of such analysis in the open government initiative to give greater access to information to citizens and legislators?
The basic contention of the Deputy's question is wrong. Clearly, the Economic Management Council is not self-appointed. It is a Cabinet sub-committee, appointed by Cabinet. The Cabinet is the democratically elected Government of Ireland.
Will the Minister-----
I know the Deputy would like to rule by decree but it is a matter of democracy. I put the challenge back to the Deputy. It is always great to say: "You do something." I am asking the Deputy to do something. We put in place the capacity for committees to examine budgets. That is what happens in the rest of Europe. We published the review of expenditure so that all the policy options were available. I wrote to the chair of every line committee, in education, health, etc., to call in the Minister and go through all the expenditure options and have a real debate, and to call in civil society representatives if they wished. That is what Parliament should be doing. Will the Deputy give up the line of "someone else should do something" and take up the initiative himself?
The next time the Minister is preparing a budget, if he wants to have a chat with me about it, I will certainly take up the offer.
The Minister will take up the Deputy's offer.
I welcome the good work that was done in respect of the consultation with civic society during the summer months. In light of that, what does the Minister make of the open letter yesterday from eight civil society organisations - the National Women's Council of Ireland, FLAC, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, the Children's Rights Alliance, Open, Gay and Lesbian Equality Network, Equality and Rights Alliance, and Amnesty - in respect of a decision taken by the Dáil Committee on Procedure and Privileges to shut down access to the audio-visual room for all party briefings? It flies in the face of any commitment to open Government and transparency, such as the Minister has articulated, to shut down what is essentially a space for civil society, interest groups and others to come to brief members. The decision by the committee was taken on foot of a briefing given by the ESB group of unions in respect of their pension fund and serious issues for Government and the public purse. I am very concerned about this and I would like to know what the Minister thinks.
Thankfully I had no responsibility for that, and the Deputy is trying to get me into trouble by asking me questions about the Committee on Procedure and Privileges, which has nothing to do with the Executive. It is the primary committee of the Oireachtas. I will leave the decisions of the Committee on Procedure and Privileges to that committee and I will not voice a view on it.
Deputy Wallace is pushing the boat out, but I will allow him.
I thank the Acting Chairman but I am entitled to another minute. Last week I pointed out that section 42(j) of the Freedom of Information Bill 2013 provides that the Bill does not apply to documents "given by a [freedom of information] body to a member of the Government or a Minister of State for use by him or her for the purposes of any proceedings in either House of the Oireachtas or any committee of either or both of such Houses or any subcommittee of such a committee". This section essentially states that the Government thinks lobbying, one of the most underhand activities in modern politics, should go unchecked, running counter to what the Government desires. The truth is that policymaking does not and should not take place in a vacuum. There is too much at stake and far too many people are affected by the Government's decisions. The Minister has brought in a new freedom of information Bill which, if truth were told, is about hiding how Government operates rather than revealing how it operates.
The Deputy is being silly. That is a silly remark. Every international body, not partisan people, that has looked at the freedom of information legislation thinks it is world class in terms of the presentation we have made. We can argue about the individual Parts of it but I ask the Deputy not to be silly about it.
In terms of-----
The Minister has the floor.
In terms of the lobbying legislation, the register of lobbyists Bill is separate legislation. We have had much public consultation about that Bill. I will bring it into the House early next year and we will have another debate about that.
