DUBLIN: As part of its planned overhaul of the Budget cycle, the Irish Government has proposed the circulation of Tax Strategy Group (TSG) papers to the relevant parliamentary committees in early- to mid-July.
As part of the Programme for Partnership Government agreed between the minority Fine Gael administration and the opposition parties, the Government will reform the budgetary process to ensure the more regular involvement of parliament. The Finance Department has now published full details of its proposals in its submission to the Select Committee on Arrangements for Budgetary Scrutiny.
The TSG is an interdepartmental committee chaired by the Department of Finance and comprised of members from various government departments, along with political advisers. It is tasked with examining and developing proposals relating to tax, levies, and pay related social insurance (PRSI) for the Budget and Finance Bill. It is also required to consider the interaction of tax, levies, and PRSI with social welfare policies.
The group discusses papers that set out existing tax measures and social protection issues. These will now be circulated to the relevant parliamentary committees following the TSG process in early- to mid-July. According to the Finance Department, “These papers will provide the relevant sectoral committees with accurate and costed options for change which could assist them in developing recommendations that they may wish to submit to [the] Government in advance of the draft Budget decisions being made.”
As part of the new budgetary cycle, the Government will publish a Spring/Summer Economic Statement in June, and hold a National Economic Dialogue in the same month. It will publish a Mid-Year Expenditure report in July for the first time.
