Dáil Committee critical of decision of EU Commission to pull out of meeting on Budget 2017

14th September 2016

The Committee are currently holding hearings on Budget 2017 which will resume next week when it meets the Minister for Finance and his officials, officials from the Revenue Commissioners on Tuesday next. On Wednesday it will hold its final public hearing with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.
Officials from the Commission had been expected to outline its evaluation of progress made by Ireland on addressing the Country Specific Recommendations issued by the Commission in June this year and were also expected to address the application of fiscal rules in the area of productive capital expenditure. However in an email to the Committee on Thursday last, the EU officials reversed their decision to attend as it felt the timing of the meeting was sub-optimal.

Chairman of the Committee, John Paul Phelan TD reflected the Committee’s disappointment at the cancellation of the meeting when he stated that, “Whether we like it or not, the EU is now a key stakeholder when it comes to budgetary policy. In that regard, the Committee would have welcomed the input of the EU Commission officials when examining issues such as sustainable economic growth and adherence to fiscal rules”.

“A lot of our discussions to date with bodies like IFAC and the ESRI have revolved around ensuring that we address the bottlenecks that have built up as a result of the drastic cutback that was necessary in the capital programme. While that is clearly evident in the housing market, it is also becoming a feature in areas such as traffic congestion and in the health and education sectors due to demographic pressures. There is a strong feeling amongst Committee Members that, because urgent action is necessary, some flexibility in the interpretation of the EU Fiscal rules will be necessary so that the State can invest in productive infrastructure.”

The Committee is writing to EU Commission about the cancellation and will be seeking a submission on a number of issues prior to finalising its consideration of Budget 2017. It is now expected that the EU Commission representatives will attend the Committee in November following the publication of its annual growth survey.

ENDS/