Transparency

This page contains information on the external reviews of the Council and its work, how Freedom of Information applies to it, governance and funding arrangements, meetings, and communications.

External Reviews of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council

The Council has had two independent evaluations of its output.

OECD Review (2021)
This review was conducted by an expert team led by the OECD. The project was funded by the European Union, and implemented by the OECD in cooperation with the European Commission’s Directorate General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM). The review was informed by virtual visits for stakeholder interviews in summer 2020 and the final report was published in February 2021.

 

Independent peer review (2015)
appointed an independent peer review group to provide an independent evaluation of the Fiscal Council’s outputs in line with the Fiscal Council’s Strategic Plan 2014–2016.

The members of the panel were:

  • Mr. Lars Jonung (Chair)
  • Mr. Iain Begg and
  • Mr. Michael Tutty

The panel’s final report was submitted to the Fiscal Council and sent by the Council to the Minister for Finance and to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform.

Freedom of Information

The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council is a prescribed body under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Acts 1997, 2003, and 2014. FOI establishes three statutory rights:

  1. The right to access official records held by Government Departments or other public bodies listed in the Act;
  2. A right for each person to have official information relating to himself or herself amended where it is incomplete, incorrect or misleading; and,
  3. A right to obtain reasons for decisions affecting oneself.

Find out more about Freedom of Information and the legislation, structure, rules and functions of the Council.

FOI related enquiries can be sent to: admin@fiscalcouncil.ie.

Access to Environmental Information

The European Communities (Access to Information on the Environment) Regulations 2007 came into force on 1 May 2007 and the European Communities (Access to Information on the Environment) (Amendment) Regulations 2011 came into force on 23 December 2011. Both pieces of legislation are to be read together and construed as one and are referred to as the European Communities (Access to Information on the Environment) Regulations 2007 to 2011, and were amended by the European Communities (Access to Information on the Environment)(Amendment) Regulations 2014. Further details

Governance

The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council is a statutory body governed by the legislation of the Fiscal Responsibility Act. The Council operates according to public sector regulations and practices. Further details.

Funding

The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council is funded from the Central Fund and its annual budget is subject to a ceiling specified in the Fiscal Responsibility Act. Further details.

Minutes of Council meetings

Response to Fiscal Assessment Reports

Parliamentary Questions that mention the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council

Correspondence to the Minister for Finance

Prompt Payments by Public Sector Bodies Reporting

The Fiscal Council reports every quarter on its compliance with the Government’s 15-Day Prompt Payment commitment. It does so using a revised payment performance template which includes the levels of late payment interest and compensation costs incurred.