Need for greater transparency in Budget process - Budgetary Oversight Committee report

The Committee has called for need to promote greater transparency around relevant budget information in its Pre-Budget Report. It recommends that any additional monies required by Government Departments, arising from Budget over-runs, should be clearly identified in the allocations set out in the Revised Estimates.   

The Government should be cautious when setting fiscal policy in 2019, due to the possibility of a ‘no deal’ Brexit outcome, according to the Committee. It recommends that the Department of Finance consider publishing details of its contingency plans for a ‘no deal’ Brexit scenario that sets out possible fiscal changes that will be required if such a scenario arises.  

Other recommendations in the report are:

•    To take account of rising property values, the Committee also recommended that the Government consider increasing some thresholds for inheritance tax


•    The ESRI recently carried out work to expand the SWITCH model so that it can be used to carry out gender impact analysis of budget measures.  In line with the Committee’s Gender Budgeting Report, it recommends that the SWITCH model be used to carry out gender budgeting of all future budgets.  

•    Given that Tax Expenditures cost in the order of €5bn annually, the Committee recommends that they be reviewed on a regular basis, so that they can be assessed from a VFM point of view.  

•    The Committee was concerned with the lack of transparency around Supplementary Estimates, in the health area in particular.  It recommends that steps be taken to improve how revised budgets are reported and presented, so that forecasts are more accurate, and that it is clear where money to fund over-runs is coming from.

•    To help alleviate labour shortages, the Committee supports a further increase in the National Training Levy.  

•    That a Supplementary Climate Change report be published alongside the budget, addressing issues such as identification of the main budget allocations and tax measures that will have a significant impact on climate change targets and quantifying the impact of these measures on greenhouse gas emissions.

•    The Government consider phasing in the equalisation of tax rates on diesel and petrol over a number of years.

•    The Government consider increasing carbon tax over a number of years in order to give a long term price signal to the market to incentivise a switch to less carbon intensive energy sources

•    The excise rate differential between roll-your-own tobacco, cigarettes and heated tobacco products (“heated cigarettes” means rolls of tobacco that can be heated or smoked when inserted into a battery or electronic device) be closed.

•    The Government consider using fiscal policy, beginning in 2019, to decrease Ireland’s dependence on imported oil and gas, with due regard to compensate people in receipt of State income supports.  

Read the full report here.