THE MINISTER for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin, has disputed the OECD’s prediction that the Irish economy is unlikely to expand this year.

He said the organisation’s assessment was “out of line with our thinking and that of the consensus at this time”.

Mr Howlin was speaking at the Leinster Society of Chartered Accountants’ annual lunch in Dublin yesterday.

He said further budgetary consolidation measures would be required to align the State’s spending and revenues more closely in the coming years due to the “sheer size” of the budget deficit, adding that the current review of each government department – instigated by his department – was the most effective way of delivering the Government’s and EU-IMF objectives.

The review of each department is due to be submitted to Government by the autumn for consideration in the budget process.

“The key question to be asked of all public bodies is whether they are delivering outputs that are absolutely essential to achieve the outcomes required,” Mr Howlin said, adding that the Government would take “the necessary decisions” arising from the review to ensure the public finances were returned to a sustainable path.

Mr Howlin also discussed at length the role and responsibility of external auditors as regards the strategies and lending practices of the covered institutions.

Referring to the recent Nyberg report, which suggested that auditors could have raised questions about the lending practices of banks even though they did fulfil their “narrow function” according to existing rules, he said he supported the view that the audit profession should be able to consider an “enhanced role in co-operation with supervisory authorities, while recognising their respective statutory functions”.