Vat reduction was the clearest Budget 2026 success for the Buswells NGO and lobby-group crowd. Everyone else had to settle for compromises in a budget that the finance minister said could not achieve everything.
The capital allocations in Budget 2026 simply confirm those in the National Development Plan. The Government’s challenge is “barriers to delivery,” Jack Chambers said.
Budget 2026 swaps short-term giveaways for long-term investment. The challenge now is whether fiscal restraint can hold in a system used to overspending.
In the first of a series of articles exploring the risks audited by State bodies, Fiscal Advisory Council records point to a scaling down of its activities unless its funding ceiling is raised.
Despite strong warnings from the Central Bank, the ESRI and the Fiscal Advisory Council, the government looks set to blow past its own spending rules. Colm McCarthy warns that Ireland risks repeating old mistakes.
While the Irish economy continues to thrive, it presents no justification for runaway budget spending and remains exposed to US risks – but still offers a healthier picture than those of its neighbours.
The economic and political situations of troubled France and confident Ireland could not be more different. Or are they?
Scale Ireland hosted its annual pre-budget gathering with finance minister Paschal Donohoe on hand but anyone hoping for a tease of significant policy changes was left wanting.
The clamour for more equal treatment from childless people only adds to the economic and social reality that allowing children to inherit €400,000 or more tax-free from their parents has no benefits.
The timing could hardly be worse to make decisions on the fiscal space or capital commitments. The Government’s big announcements are really just holding positions.
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