Figures released before the holidays confirm that public spending for 2024 will again exceed the amounts provided. Planned spending for 2025 in October’s pre-election budget, based on the outcome then foreseen for 2024, was to rise 6 per cent, enough to spook the Fiscal Council. This large increase will not be near enough, yet again overtaken by the admission in December of across-the-board overshoots. The figure pencilled in for 2025 will be only just ahead of the actual new baseline, by only 1 per cent. To maintain current programmes will now require large extra allocations, even if none of the…

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