Expect architects McGrath and Donohoe to be cautious and unshowy on Tuesday, despite political pressure to spend billions in surpluses
Pressure is mounting on budget Ministers Paschal Donohoe and Michael McGrath to get the mix right. But what is the right mix? Photograph: Gareth Chaney/Collins Photoswent outside the main gates of Leinster House to meet “some of my pensioner friends” who were protesting last week, on the same day that a national newspaper splashed the prospect of a €12 bump in weekly welfare payments across its front page.
The prospect of spending a lot of money and still disappointing people is a real one for some Ministers. Almost everything could fairly be described as still on the table, one source said. But then added: “The table is the size of Leitrim this minute.”For spending Ministers, holding out for a late settlement in the belief that money will be found at the last minute to solve political problems is a risky strategy. But they believe – not without cause, going on precedent – that the Ministers for Finance and Public Expenditure can always find a few million more to solve a political problem.
So how to stop a runaway giveaway budget that stores up trouble for the future? McGrath will set up a savings and investment fund, and shovel – probably – some €10 billion of windfall corporation tax revenues into it. That will leave significant amounts for tax cuts, spending increases and once-off measures, to be announced for the second budget in a row.
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