AN IMPACT assessment should be done on proposed budget measures before they are announced in December, the Dáil has heard.

Independent TD Stephen Donnelly said “we need a poverty impact assessment”, which was “standard practice in other countries”. He said it should be done to ensure last year’s regressive budget would not be repeated.

Speaking during a debate on the economy, Mr Donnelly said an analysis by the ESRI after last year’s budget showed “the less money you had, the greater the share of the burden the Government asked you to carry”.

The Wicklow TD said “last year, a single parent with three children was asked to stump up €4,600, while an individual earning €200,000 was asked to stump up €100.

“We need to know how many more Irish children will be in food poverty after this budget,” he said.

There should also be a gender impact analysis, he said. “When the vast majority of decision makers are men, policies tend to be unbalanced.” He said Minister for Finance Michael Noonan’s contribution in the debate on the labour market only referred to the construction sector. “The vast majority of jobs, which will, I hope, be created by the €17 billion capital expenditure programme, will be for males. This is despite the Live Register figures showing the greatest increase in unemployment has been suffered not by men but by women.”

Mr Noonan, who opened the debate, downplayed overspends in the Departments of Health and Social Protection, saying “we must be cautious not to overstate the risks posed by these overspends within the overall voted public expenditure of €55.9 billion. Any overruns are very small in comparison with the total budget.”

He also said the latest data showed Ireland could meet the deficit limit for this year of 8.6 per cent of GDP.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny reiterated the Government’s central commitment to reduce the deficit to 3 per cent by 2015.