Ireland is ready to reform budget process
The Irish Government is ready to reform the budgetary process to ensure the more regular involvement of parliament. The Government has approved proposals put forward by Finance Minister Michael Noonan and Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe. The plans were first set out in the Programme for Partnership Government, the document drawn up following months of negotiations between the new minority Fine Gael administration and the opposition parties. The main aim is to ensure that the budgetary process is underpinned by substantially enhanced parliamentary input and feedback. As part of the new budgetary cycle, the Government will publish a Spring/Summer Economic Statement (SES) in June, and will hold a National Economic Dialogue event the same month. It will publish a Mid-Year Expenditure report in July for the first time, and will circulate Tax Strategy Papers to the relevant parliamentary committees in late July. The SES will provide an updated assessment of the macro-economic and fiscal outlook, and an updated forecast on the "fiscal space" in the budget, to inform discussion on budgetary priorities. The objective of the National Economic Dialogue will be to facilitate...
