The 6th meeting of the Independent Fiscal Commission for Northern Ireland was held in Belfast today. Commissioners met in person for the first time, for a socially-distanced workshop to reach an agreed position on key issues which will inform their consideration of the case for enhancing fiscal devolution for Northern Ireland. These key issues included: the Commission’s view of the fundamental prerequisites required for successful fiscal devolution in NI; and the criteria to be used to assess individual tax powers.
While in Belfast, Commissioners had the opportunity meet with the Finance Minister, Conor Murphy, to inform him of progress made to date, and to provide a flavour of some of the stakeholder engagement and feedback received by the Commission, as part of Phase 1 of their ongoing Stakeholder Engagement Programme.
In addition, and as part of a series of meetings with the political parties in Northern Ireland, members also met with Sinn Féin representatives, John Finucane, MP and Dr Caoimhe Archibald, MLA to discuss the Commission’s approach to its terms of reference and proposed forward work programme.