A government’s annual budget should be, in principle, a boring affair. Many readers might remember a controversy from the early days of the Troika, when proposed budget measures for Ireland were being discussed by the German parliament. The reaction by the Irish commentariat – if perhaps not the wider Irish public, who may not have noticed – was one of annoyance. Who do those Germans think they are, people complained, that they can demand to see our budget measures? The controversy was a source of total bemusement for German parliamentarians. Their reaction was telling: what do you mean your parliament…

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