Dáil budget oversight team meets Washington equivalent

Representatives of the Dáil committee on budgetary oversight arrived in Washington this week for meetings with members of congress and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) as Ireland’s Parliamentary Budget Office prepares to ramp up activity.

The PBO was established by the Government last year after an OECD report on Ireland found that budget scrutiny was underdeveloped by international standards, with the Cabinet exercising too much control over the budget. In response, the Parliamentary Budget Office was established to provide independent analysis and costings of proposed budget measures.

Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Feargaíl and Colm Brophy TD, chair of the budgetary oversight committee, were among the delegation that met senior members of congress this week including house speaker Paul Ryan. On Wednesday, they met with the director and deputy director of the CBO. The independent body plays a crucial role in the US political system, providing independent analysis and data on the impacts of various budgetary policies – from the controversial issue of healthcare reform to the recent tax-reform package.

Costing analysis

Speaking in Washington after the meeting, which he described as “very productive”, Mr Brophy said he envisages further liaison between the two bodies. “Our discussions focused on the setting-up of the office and the way it functions in relation to the congressional process in the US. In addition, the CBO highlighted the crucial importance of the agency’s independence in providing budgetary and costing analysis.”

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Also under discussion was the agency’s development of its own independent base model – an idea the Irish PBO is hoping to adopt.

The Parliamentary Budget Office, based in Leinster House, is led by Annette Connolly, a former official at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. The office has a staff of nine, which is set to increase in the coming months.

Since its inception, it has published analyses on the property tax and the European Semester – the system of economic oversight implemented by Brussels which obliges member states to reach certain economic targets.

The cross-party Dáil committee on budgetary oversight was established in 2016 to provide oversight of public expenditure policy and public finances. Chaired by Fine Gael’s Mr Brophy, it also has members of Fianna Fáil, People Before Profit, Labour and the Green Party.

In addition to house speaker Paul Ryan, the Dáil delegation met several members of congress during its visit to Capitol Hill, including representative Joe Crowley and representative Brendan Boyle.