Results 581-600 of 1,130,171 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Joe O'Brien OR speaker:Martin Heydon OR speaker:Martin Browne OR speaker:Frank Feighan OR speaker:Hildegarde Naughton OR speaker:Gary Gannon OR speaker:Robert Troy OR speaker:Michael Moynihan OR speaker:James Lawless OR speaker:Stephen Donnelly OR speaker:David Cullinane OR speaker:Mary Butler OR speaker:Malcolm Noonan OR speaker:Darragh O'Brien OR speaker:Ciarán Cannon OR speaker:Michael Healy-Rae OR speaker:Marian Harkin OR speaker:Damien English OR speaker:Brian Leddin OR speaker:Pauline Tully OR speaker:Seán Ó Fearghaíl OR speaker:Niamh Smyth OR speaker:Pa Daly OR speaker:Brendan Howlin OR speaker:Joe McHugh OR speaker:Jennifer Carroll MacNeill OR speaker:Pat Buckley OR speaker:Richard Bruton OR speaker:Norma Foley OR speaker:Darren O'Rourke OR speaker:Cathal Berry OR speaker:Patrick O'Donovan OR speaker:Rose Conway-Walsh OR speaker:Jim O'Callaghan OR speaker:Gino Kenny OR speaker:Alan Dillon OR speaker:Paul Murphy OR speaker:Anne Rabbitte OR speaker:Seán Ó Fearghaíl4 OR speaker:Thomas Pringle OR speaker:Pádraig O'Sullivan OR speaker:Mairead Farrell OR speaker:Gerald Nash OR speaker:Colm Brophy OR speaker:Niall Collins OR speaker:Dessie Ellis OR speaker:James Browne OR speaker:Jennifer Whitmore OR speaker:Aindrias Moynihan OR speaker:Michael Creed) in 'Committee meetings'
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)
Rose Conway-Walsh: Apologies for the vote. My first question refers to an endorsement IFAC provided for the economic projections which were released alongside budget 2025. In the letter of endorsement on the macroeconomic projections, IFAC stated that one of the three elements of the basis for its approach is a review of the Department's past forecasts to look for errors and systematic bias. Is it fair to...
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)
Rose Conway-Walsh: Maybe IFAC could let us have that. How many times has it overestimated? It should be fairly easy to see in GNI*. It is important for us to see the patterns that are there. IFAC endorsed the macroeconomic projection we received on budget day. Apart from the element I outlined, it also looked at the comparisons on the benchmark projections and forecasts from other bodies. IFAC said that...
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)
Rose Conway-Walsh: Okay. Do the witnesses think the inclusion of BEPS pillar 1 kicking in in 2026 is a credible expectation?
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)
Rose Conway-Walsh: Why?
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)
Rose Conway-Walsh: Does IFAC have any oversight of the multiplier that is used by the Department for current and capital expenditure?
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)
Rose Conway-Walsh: I refer to the multiplier that is used which means that if we put X in, we get Y out.
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)
Rose Conway-Walsh: Does IFAC have any impact on the multiplier that is used by the Department? It is difficult to tell. There are lots of moving parts.
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)
Rose Conway-Walsh: It might be something worth looking into in terms of the transparency of future estimates. Does IFAC assess the level of public expenditure based on the share of the real economy, which is obviously GNI*? From my own estimates, when I compare either net expenditure or general Government expenditure, it shows we are spending less today than we were in 2019, the year before the current...
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)
Rose Conway-Walsh: It is also necessary, though, to look at inflation. We never signed up to the restrictive Fine Gael 5% spending rule. I believe we have been proven right in relation to inflation. Of the three examples that IFAC gave us in its submission, namely, the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden, the first two specifically take inflation into account and look at the increases in spending in real terms....
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)
Rose Conway-Walsh: It is less today than it was in 2019 in terms of spending. It is a kind of contradiction in one sense. The concern is that all this highlights some of the risks associated with legislating for the spending rules.
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)
Rose Conway-Walsh: No, exactly. What we are trying to get at here, however, is to be fiscally responsible but still have enough flexibility to be able to adapt to and respond to external changes that occur. It is about the balance rather than about tying ourselves into something if we were to legislate for the rule.
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)
Rose Conway-Walsh: I thank Dr. Casey for that. The EU fiscal rules state that the medium-term fiscal plans will commit member states to an agreed net expenditure path for a five-year period. The plan will subsequently be endorsed by the Council of the European Union. It is stated that once endorsed by the European Council, it is generally not possible to deviate from the agreed net expenditure path unless...
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)
Rose Conway-Walsh: It is trying to stop it.
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)
Rose Conway-Walsh: Yes. I think this is crucially important because we are adding an additional national restriction to an economic decision of a democratically-elected government. I think this is extremely serious. IFAC's submission refers to it having an enforcement role in regard to the EU fiscal rules. Will the witnesses expand on this statement? I refer to what IFAC having an additional enforcement...
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)
Rose Conway-Walsh: What about the decision of the democratically elected Government? I really have concerns about this.
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)
Rose Conway-Walsh: Five years is a long time in politics.
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)
Aindrias Moynihan: We will move on. I will give Deputies a chance to come back in again later.
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)
Aindrias Moynihan: I have one or two questions myself. I understand the kind of enforcement or pushback that would be put into execution by the European Commission in the event of rules being broken is unclear. Is that unique to Ireland, or is it across all EU countries?
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)
Aindrias Moynihan: What kind of enforcement does Mr. Coffey envisage?
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)
Aindrias Moynihan: Mr. Coffey had mentioned flexibility. It was also referenced with regard to the 2024 budget and the setting aside of the two funds. What is the council's take on the capacity of those to give that kind of flexibility?