Ms Dawn Holland is a macroeconomist with a focus on macroeconomic modelling and forecasting. She served as Chief of the Global Economic Monitoring Branch at the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs from 2015-2019, where she was responsible for producing the UN’s flagship publication World Economic Situation and Prospects and for the development of the UN/DESA World Economic Forecasting Model. Prior to joining the United Nations, she was a Principal Research Fellow at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR), London, where she worked from 1996-2013 and remains a close associate. She has acted as an advisor to the House of Lords of the UK Parliament and to the European Court of Auditors, and served on the editorial board of the National Institute Economic Review from 2003-2013. She has been a Consultant for the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) Dublin, and the OECD, and has undertaken research projects on behalf of a wide range of organizations, including the Scottish Government, European Commission, Overseas Development Institute, and various UK Government departments. Her term of appointment to the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council was 4 years effective from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2023.
Mr Sebastian Barnes is a Head of Division at the OECD Economics Department and former Counsellor to the Chief Economist. He also served at the OECD as a head of the Euro and of the Ireland desk. He joined the OECD in 2005 from the Bank of England. He holds a MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics, a master’s degree in European Political Economy from the College of Europe (Bruges), and a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Oxford. Sebastian was a founding member of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, he was initially appointed by the Minister as a Member of the Fiscal Council in 2011 and subsequently re-appointed on two occasions. He was appointed Vice-Chairperson by the Council in November 2015, served as Acting Chairperson from 2020, until his Ministerial appointment as Chairperson to the Fiscal Council in July 2020. Sebastian served as Chairperson and a Member of Fiscal Council until June 2023.
Dr Martina Lawless is a Research Professor at the ESRI. Before joining the ESRI, she worked as a research economist at the Central Bank of Ireland. She received her Ph.D from Trinity College Dublin and M.Sc in Economics from the University of Leuven. Her research has focused primarily on firm-level dynamics and decision making, covering a range of topics such as access to finance for small and medium firms, effects of taxation, exporting and, more recently, the potential effects of Brexit on Ireland. Her term of appointment to the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council was 4 years from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2020.
Mr Seamus Coffey (Former Chair) is a lecturer in Economics in UCC. His teaching includes microeconomics, government and business, advanced microeconomics and econometrics as well as adult and distance education courses. His research and writing focuses on the performance of the Irish economy. He is a sometime contributor to print, broadcast and online media relating to the Irish economy including fiscal outcomes, taxation, debt, national accounts and other issues. His term of appointment to the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council was 4 years effective 1 January 2016. Mr Coffey was Chairperson of the Council from 1 January 2017 until 31 December 2019.
Mr Michael G. Tutty is a retired Commissioner for Energy Regulation. He was Vice President of the European Investment Bank from 2000 to 2004, immediately prior to which he served as Second Secretary General in the Department of Finance (Budget and Economic Division). Michael holds a Masters Degree in Strategic Management in the Public Sector from Trinity College Dublin and a Masters Degree in Economics from the National University of Ireland. His initial appointment to the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council was effective 24 September 2015 and was followed by a second term of 4 years effective from 1 January 2016.
Dr Íde Kearney works as a Senior Economist in the Research Division of the Dutch Central Bank (De Nederlandsche Bank). Prior to joining the DNB she worked for a number of years in the ESRI on the development of macroeconomic models and their use in macroeconomic forecasting and policy analysis of the Irish economy, including forecasting the public finances. Dr Kearney holds a Ph.D in Economics from the European University Institute in Florence and a Masters of Economic Science (Econometrics) from University College Dublin. Her work for the Fiscal Council was in a private capacity, independent of her work for DNB. Her term of appointment to the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council was 4 years effective 11 March 2015.
Professor John McHale (Former Chair) is Established Professor of Economics at the National University of Ireland, Galway. He previously held positions as Assistant Professor of Economics and Associate Professor of Economics at Harvard University, and as Associate Professor of Managerial Economics and Toller Family Research Fellow at the Queen’s University, Ontario. He has been a consultant to the World Bank on numerous migration and development projects. He previously served as Director of the Whitaker Institute for Innovation and Societal Change at NUI Galway. He has also served as an independent member of that National Economic and Social Council and of the Pensions Board. He is currently President of the Irish Economic Association and an associate editor of the Economic and Social Review. He holds Ph.D and A.M degrees from Harvard, and first-class M.Econ.Sc. and B.Comm. degrees from the National University of Ireland. His term of appointment to the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council was 4 years effective 31 December 2012.
Professor Alan Barrett is a Research Professor and Director of the Economic and Social Research Institute. He is also a Research Fellow with the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in Bonn, Germany. From 2011–2013 Alan was seconded from the ESRI to Trinity College Dublin where he led the programme of research on economics with the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA). Alan was formerly a co-author of the ESRI’s Quarterly Economic Commentary (2005–2010), and has worked as a senior economist in the Department of Finance (2001–2003). He holds a Ph.D. and M.A from Michigan State University, and a B.A from Trinity College Dublin. He was appointed to the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council in 2011 and served until May 2015.
Donal Donovan is currently Adjunct Professor at the University of Limerick and a visiting lecturer at Trinity College Dublin. He was a member of the teams that produced the Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland’s report in May 2010 and the Nyberg Commission’s report in April 2011, both dealing with the causes of the Irish banking crisis. Donal worked in the IMF from 1977 until 2005, when he retired as Deputy Director. During his career at the IMF, he worked closely with many countries experiencing financial crises. Donal holds a Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia and a Bachelor’s degree from Trinity College Dublin. Donal is the joint author (with Professor Antoin Murphy) of “The Fall of the Celtic Tiger; Ireland and the Euro Debt Crisis” (Oxford University Press, 2013). He was appointed to the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council in 2011 and served a three-year term.
Dr Róisín O’Sullivan is a professor in the Economics Department of Smith College, Massachusetts. Her scholarly work focuses on macroeconomic policy and financial markets, and she teaches courses in macroeconomics, central banking and the economics of European Integration. Her academic publications include journal articles addressing the impact of the inflation targeting policy framework on bond market volatility and the role of asset prices in the measurement of inflation. Róisín previously worked as an economist in monetary policy department of the Central Bank of Ireland. She holds a Ph.D. in economics from the Ohio State University, and master’s and bachelor’s degrees from the National University of Ireland, Galway. Her term of appointment to the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council is 3 years, effective 31 December 2012.