T6. Mr O'Toole asked the Minister of Finance when he expects to update the House on the terms of reference for the fiscal commission. (AQT 1406/17-22)

The commission, like the council, is off doing some of its work at the moment. I am sure that the Member, and others in the Finance Committee, will be engaging with it in due course. As he acknowledged in one of his earlier contributions, there are some very experienced and able people involved in both the council and the commission. We wanted to give both bodies the space to engage and establish independence — particularly the council, which has an ongoing remit for reporting — so that they did not just become tools of the Department that do its bidding. From the people involved, the Member will know that that will not be the case. I look forward to them coming back to us with initial findings. The time frame that we have given them for the provision of a report is the end of the year. It will be for an incoming Executive to act on that report, but it will inform a debate that will bring us beyond the annual Budget cycle into the future and the opportunities for raising our own revenue.

Can the Minister confirm that, when the fiscal commission formally responds to him, its findings will be published and laid in the Assembly — that is, that it will not be a report that goes to the Executive and has to get on its agenda, but will be publicly laid and debated in the Assembly?

Some people were not hugely warm to the idea of a fiscal commission. It is an exercise that both Scotland and Wales have gone through, and a debate and an informed discussion such as that is beneficial to us all. My intention was to assist in a public debate, a debate inside the Assembly and a debate outside the Assembly. Therefore, I want to make sure that any report that it produces is available to the Assembly and the public so that we can have a proper and informed debate in the time ahead.

We have time for a brief question from Paula Bradley.

Minister, what discussions have you had, if any, with the Minister for Infrastructure about rolling support for the taxi, bus and coach industry to counteract the ongoing challenges that the sector is going through while we build up public confidence?

The Member will know that there was some financial support offered up specifically for those sectors. There was quite a bit of wrangling between a couple of Departments as to who had responsibility for all of that. When Infrastructure eventually stepped up to take that responsibility, finance was made available. It was not all used, certainly not in relation to coaches. At the end of the financial year, we had additional COVID money and tried to get Departments to come back in for more money where it could be used. That was not the case for the Department for Infrastructure in relation to this.

I am happy to discuss at any time the requirement for additional support. We have allocated most of the COVID money that we have available to us. We are not expecting any more to be made available, unlike last year when we received updated tranches over the year. If any of it is not used and is surrendered or if more is made available to us, I would be very happy to look at any urgent schemes for which a Minister might think it is important to tap into that.

That concludes topical questions. I ask Members to take their ease before the next item of business, which is the Budget Bill.

(Mr Principal Deputy Speaker [Mr Stalford] in the Chair)