The Government has again relied on once-off payments as a key part of its budget, but phasing these out will now be difficult
Minister for Finance Michael McGrath and Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe arriving to deliver Budget 2024 at Government Buildings,The healthy state of the public finances has allowed the Government to announce a generous budget, while also promising to put away significant cash for the future. Budget 2024 is not a conservative package, involving measures valued at close to €14 billion.
The plan to help mortgage holders will please some – particularly those on tracker loans – but will annoy those who do not benefit. The commitment to make this support temporary will be hard to keep, with interest rates set to stay high. The decision to breach the 5 per cent spending rule is reasonable, given the rate of inflation. But, as the Fiscal Council has pointed out, there are questions about whether much of the spending presented as temporary is now, in fact, permanent, or at least semi-permanent.
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