Paschal Donohoe defends budget against imprudence claims
Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has strongly defended his budget in the face of criticism that is is “imprudent”.
The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (IFAC) says Budget 2019 does not adequately prepare for a future downturn.
While Mr Donohoe said he will take the warnings “very seriously”, he said the increase in spending is far less than during the Celtic Tiger years.
“If you look at what has happened in Government expenditure and current Government expenditure, between 2014 and 2019 it has increased by 20%. Across the same time period of our boom it increased by 57%.”
When asked about the IFAC finding that spending on health is “not credible”, Mr Donohoe said that in planning for next year he calculated and factored in the extra funds needed for the health service this year.
“If I hadn’t taken the unplanned expenditure for this year into my spending plans for next year, I would have had an issue.
“The fact that I have done that means that I am now facing understandable criticism in relation to that rate of increase being high,” he said.
“But that money is going into maintaining services in our health service.”
He added that he has set up a rainy-day fund and has exceeded the target on reducing the deficit.
Meanwhile, Transport Minister Shane Ross said that Irish banks remain unable to feel pain and conscience, despite the tracker mortgage scandal.
He told the Pat Kenny show on Newstalk: “The problem with fining the banks is that of course no-one really suffers except the State — they’re State-owned banks — and it’s an inadequate fine because you don’t have any personal accountability there.”
