The 2025 fiscal targets have been abandoned just three months after they were adopted in the October budget. Instead, the Programme for Government promises more of the same, implicitly relying on a continuation of strong revenue inflows.
The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has seen its influence downgraded in the interests of ‘delivery’ and the decline in the quality of the capital programme is already underway.
Fine Gael has proposed a new Department of Infrastructure to take charge of large project delivery. But who is in charge of project selection? Who weeds out the low-priority schemes before they get underway?
A sane and fiscally sustainable economic policy is a bulwark for the small business sector in Ireland, but a bespoke policy, made-to-measure for any faltering sector, is delusional.
Ireland is the only European country offering free water and Uisce Éireann is the only Irish semi-state which has the majority of its staff on the payroll of agencies it cannot control. Something has to give.
The constant refrain from politicians seeking to avoid decisions about the 32 million cap is to urge scheduled airlines to use Cork, Shannon and other regional airports. Yes, they have capacity, but there is a reason why.
Budgetary decisions can squander more than money. They can damage the credibility of economic management and undermine the capacity to make better decisions in the future. This is particularly true of capital projects.
The Government has never formally abandoned the Public Spending Code but one could be forgiven for imagining that it has. Every mistake in capital allocation means that, sooner or later, better projects must wait.
The GAA insist the Casement Park project should go ahead without the five European Championship matches and the Taoiseach promises €50 million will still be available in their absence. What is the point?
Despite the Government's mantra, investment in public transport and capital infrastructure is sometimes a waste. That is why we have the Public Spending Code. Sadly, our politicians seems determined by bypass it.
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