Appointment of Acting Chair to the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council

The Minister for Finance Michael McGrath is pleased to announce that Mr. Michael McMahon, will be assuming the role of ‘Acting Chair’ of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, until the selection process for a new Chair has been completed. The appointment of an acting Chair is necessitated due to Mr. Sebastian Barnes stepping down as Chair of the Council on 30 June 2023.

Minister McGrath said:

“I would like to thank Mr. McMahon for stepping into the role of acting Chair while a process begins to appoint the next Chair of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council.

"I also wish to express my appreciation to Mr. Sebastian Barnes, who, as a founding member of the Council, greatly contributed to the work of the Council. He has been central in enhancing the public debate and scrutiny that takes place around complex fiscal and economic issues in Ireland and I wish Mr. Barnes every success in his future endeavours.”

Over the coming months the Minister for Finance will also seek to appoint a new member to the Council; this will be done via an open selection process through the Public Appointments Service. The duration of the appointment is for a four-year period.

Short biography of appointee

Mr. Michael McMahon is a Macroeconomist and is currently a Professor of Macroeconomics at the University of Oxford and Senior Research Fellow of St Hugh’s College. He is a research fellow of the Centre Economic Policy Research (CEPR), Deputy Director of the Nuffield Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Policy (NUCAMP) and a former Director for Impact at CAGE, Warwick. He previously worked at the Bank of England where for three years he was a euro-area economist doing both analytical and forecasting work. During this time, he served as one of the UK’s two representatives on the European Commission’s Experts Group on Economic Forecasting. He has also worked for the IMF’s Institute for Capacity Development in Singapore.

Selection process

The selection process for a new member of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council will be undertaken in accordance with the “Guidelines for appointments to State boards” published by the government in November 2014. The process will be managed by the Public Appointments Service, and the vacancy advertised on Stateboards.ie.

Details on the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, including board members, are available at www.fiscalcouncil.ie.