Minister for Finance Simon Harris, photographed in 2011, the year the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council was established. So there must be a special place in heaven reserved for the members of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council who made another spirited attempt this week to nudge the Government towards a more prudent fiscal path. Public spending has more than doubled since 2012 – that’s spending on public works, public services, pensions and welfare. Public spending buys public goods. But the Government exists in a political culture that is entirely unreceptive to the sort of warnings about long-term danger that have become the Cassandra-like chorus from the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council.

Source: The Irish Times January 31, 2026 11:07 UTC