Parliamentary Question addressed to the Minister for Finance

To ask the Minister for Finance if, in view of the new implications of the two-pack regulations, he will indicate the date in September or October on which the draft budget will be published; if this draft budget will be debated and/or voted on by the Oireachtas; if the final budget and Finance Bill will pass through the Houses of the Oireachtas in early December 2013 and February 2014 respectively; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Reply

Minister for Finance ( Michael Noonan):

Last March, both ECOFIN and the European Parliament agreed on the content of two draft regulations known as the “two-pack”. One of the key requirements under the “two-pack” which will impact on our budgetary process is that the draft budget for central government and the main parameters of the draft budgets for all the other sub-sectors of the general government must be published by the 15th of October each year.

In light of this requirement, the Government has decided to bring Budget Day forward from the first week in December to on or before the 15th of October from now on. This means that Budget 2014 will be presented and published on Tuesday, the 15th of October this year. Debates following the presentation of the draft budget will be a matter for the House in the normal way.

The Government has also decided that the Finance Bill should complete its passage through the Oireachtas by the 31st of December each year. This timeline will be considerably shorter than the present requirement that it must be enacted within 120 days of the Budget. Under the new arrangements, the Finance Bill will have to be passed 65 to 70 days after the Budget.

Following the Government decision on the timing of the budget, the Departments of Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform are considering the follow-on implications of moving both Budget Day and the Finance Bill forward. It is the intention of both Departments to keep all bodies that contribute to the Budget and Finance Bill processes fully informed of changes so that they can plan accordingly.