At the 5th meeting of the Independent Fiscal Commission for Northern Ireland, Commission members received a presentation from Department of Finance officials on the current NI devolution settlement and existing fiscal powers in Northern Ireland, as well as the NI public expenditure system.
Commission members noted the importance of understanding the extent of Northern Ireland’s existing fiscal powers and discussed some of the reasons why certain powers have, or have not, been employed to date.
Feedback from Phase 1 of the Commission’s ongoing Stakeholder Engagement has indicated that the detail around Northern Ireland’s current fiscal current powers is not widely known and understood. A number of stakeholders have expressed the view that providing information on this, as part of the Commission’s reporting, would offer significant value to the wider discussions on policy-making and managing public finances in Northern Ireland.