Martin wants to put wellbeing indicators in upcoming Budget
‘It’s very lefty, very woke’
TAOISEACH Micheál Martin wants to broaden the criteria for budgetary decisions to include national ‘wellbeing.’
Previously, the success or otherwise of a budget may have been decided by whether the minister for finance was playing ‘Scrooge or Santa Claus.’
The budget was also defined by conventional financial criteria such as the level of borrowing versus GNP, tax cuts, tax increases, VAT or, during the age of austerity, the extent of spending cuts.
However, current Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe has said, responding to queries by the Social Democrat TD Jennifer Whitmore and Independent Senator Alice Mary Higgins, that wellbeing will be a critical element of how the next budget is framed.
The budgetary ‘wellbeing’ process was begun by the current
Inspiration: Jacinda Ardern chief of the Irish Central Bank, Gabriel Makhlouf, who previously developed ‘wellbeing measures’ in his previous job with the New Zealand treasury, to help paint a broader picture of that country’s living standards.
After hostility from the political class, New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern touted the new measures as forward-thinking and put them at the heart of the 2019 ‘Wellbeing Budget’. Mr Donohoe said: ‘The Government has now committed to developing a set of wellbeing indicators to give a more well-rounded, holistic view of how our society is faring.’
He added that these would initially focus on ‘housing, education and health (where) a set of indicators will be developed to… include a balanced scorecard for each area of public policy.’
One senior fiscal source said: ‘Irish politics used to be divided between Boston or Berlin (tax cuts or spending) economics.
‘Now the new battle is to implement New Zealand-style economics. The poor mandarins’ brains will be scrambled. It’s very lefty, very woke.’
In what may evolve into a source of tension between the government parties, the Taoiseach is also planning to take a hand in the good news element of the budget.
Mr Donohoe confirmed: ‘Through the Department of the Taoiseach, a group of experts will be convened from the public service, academia, NGOs, and the private sector to guide this work.’
The Finance Minister added: ‘Wellbeing indicators will strengthen evidence-based policymaking in Ireland, and we envisage that our department will play a key role in working with the Department of the Taoiseach in delivering this work.’
Independent Senator Alice Mary Higgins said: ‘Wellbeing is a fiscal idea whose time has come.
She added: ‘We need action on this now rather than spending a decade on the fiscal waiting list.’
However, one minister warned: ‘If Micheál starts getting his dibs too far into the Department of Finance, they will be snapped off. The Finance mandarins do not take too kindly to power grabs from the lesser departments.’