The choice is simple: pursue a strategy that will benefit future generations or opt for the sugar rush of spending all the money now
The choice for budget day is between the cheap sugar rush of a giveaway, or building for a sustainable future. File photograph: Getty Images, in a new report, cautioned that in a few years, the State could face an annual cost of €5 billion-plus from the climate transition. And the markets for government borrowing worldwide had a dose of nerves, with the era of Ireland being able to raise funds at zero interest rates now well and truly behind us.
The council’s report on the tax and spending implications of the climate transition is a striking and thorougly researched piece of work. Its researchers warn that more work is needed, but its initial estimates of annual budget costs of €5 billion-plus are not far off the €6.4 billion full-year cost of the permanent changes planned in next Tuesday’s budget. And the costs of the ageing population will be even greater.
The National Treasury Management Agency has more than €28 billion pushed behind its sofa in cash and liquid assets. The Irish Strategic Investment Fund has €8.7 billion in investments of which €5 billion is in liquid assets. There is a €1.5 billion surplus in the National Training Fund.
The message of the past week is that Ireland simply has to grab this opportunity, as we are benefiting from a set of circumstances that are changing. The State has the chance to fund vital investment in housing, water, energy, hospitals, schools and elsewhere and to go a long way to underpin the public finances for some years to come.
Some households are, indeed, suffering, and need to be helped. And the middle ground needs some assistance to ensure the tax burden does not rise and to deliver better services in areas like health and childcare.
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