Opinion
Budget 2016: Gov't fiscal advisors warn of past mistakes, say too expansionary
Minister for Finance Michael Noonan and Brendan Howlin Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform pictured with Sean O Rourke in the RTE Radio 1 Studio before going on air. Picture Credit: Frank Mc Grath
Chairman of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council John McHale
/
Budget 2016 is too expansionary, the chairman of the Fiscal Advisory Council (FAC) has warned.
John McHale, a professor of economics at NUIG, said told RTE's Morning Ireland that the Budget would have to be reviewed carefully to see if it complies with the rules.
Budget 2016: Click here for full in-depth coverage of Budget 2016 on Independent.ie
Supplementary spending estimates related to the last Budget released at the weekend, allied with the Budget measures announced yesterday, brought the total giveaway to around €3bn, economists estimated.
"There are questions over fiscal compliance from a European and domestic perspective," he said.
"The spending this year looks like it's going to be €1.7 billion higher than was budgeted and about €1.4 billion of that is current spending. We did anticipate that there would be overruns in health, but we didn't see that other spending coming," he added.
It's unusual for the FAC - which usually publishes an analysis some weeks after the Budget - to intervene this soon.
Click to view full size graphic
Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin on the steps of Government Buildings yesterday. Photo: Steve Humphreys
Finance Minister Michael Noonan speaks at a press briefing in Government Buildings yesterday. Photo: Frank McGrath
Jobs Minister Richard Bruton
Jobs Minister Richard Bruton and Employment Minister Ged Nash sign the Minimum Wage into law yesterday. Photo Sam Boal
Environment Minister Alan Kelly speaking at his Budget press briefing at Government Buildings. Photo: Steve Humphreys
Click to view full size graphic
Click to view full size graphic
Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin, and Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan, deliver the Budget on the steps of Government Buildings
/
Meanwhile Finance Minister Michael Noonan told Newstalk that he didn't expect any pushback from Europe over the Budget.
Later he told RTE: "On the fiscal rules, we checked with the (European) Commission, we had ongoing talks with them. "We were told we would make the benchmarks. We're actually taking more out of the economy than we are taking in. "The definition of an expansionary budget is when you stimulate the demand side of the economy but we're taking out more than we are putting in."
He added that some economists would see that as contractionary.
Tanaiste Joan Burton also defended the moves saying the budget deficit targets would be lower than expected and that debt profile was being reduced further.
Spain has already been told to rewrite its Budget and told to rein in spending.
Most Watched
Play
Play
Play
Play
Play
Latest Budget 2023
- Government must decide if bigger pay offer to public sector is affordable or justified
- Conditions for children living in poverty getting worse, with some unable to eat fresh meat or poultry every day
- NTMA says €30bn cash pile will cushion State from rising debt costs
- PwC lobbies for longer VAT holiday and reductions to inheritance taxes
- Tánaiste warns inflation could ‘go on for years’
Most Read
- New decentralisation plan to allow civil servants move out of the capital to regions
- Ireland ‘stealing’ EU tax revenues, Nobel economist says
- Budget 2022: Here's everything we know so far ahead of today’s speech
- More free GP care for kids and free contraceptives for young adults to be revealed in Budget 2022
- David Chance Opinion Our budget is in much better shape than most of the eurozone, Germany included
Latest
- Kanturk neighbours grow ever closer at summer party
- Elon Musk sells $6.9bn of Tesla shares ahead of court bid to force through Twitter deal
- Sligo dad killed after holiday camp row was target of CAB and NCA investigations
- How to keep your dog safe and cool as temperatures soar
- Mortgage rates here down but still second highest in Eurozone