The domestic economy is headed into a double-dip recession according to the ESRI.  And that’s just the beginning of the bad news.  Government ministers and certain commentators will put it…

The Minister for Finance has said there was a need to have ‘an informed debate’ on the issue of the proposed VAT rises, and ‘not simply resort to rhetoric’.  No…

The Dublin Council of Trades Unions’ March Against Austerity tomorrow (12 Noon from the Garden of Remembrance) is taking place against a rising European and global awareness of the power…

Government Ministers are floating all sorts of horror options (medical card fees, closing hospital  beds, cutting education grants and Child Benefit, etc. etc.) while at the same time insisting this…

We’re into the great expectations-management game again.  It happens once a year, just prior to the budget.  ‘Proposals’ are leaked or rumoured.  The media – colluding in this annual exercise…

This was originally written for Progressive-Economy The Minister for Finance’s comments justifying VAT increases is deeply worrying for it evinces either considerable unfamiliarity with basic economic facts; or considerable indifference…

Why didn’t the Irish media report this comment by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform? ‘Today I am announcing further reductions in Public Service numbers.  I expect this reduction…

This was originally written for Progressive-Economy.ie The Government may be hiding up to €800 in austerity measures in their recent Medium-Term Fiscal Statement (MTFS).  I use the term ‘may’ because…

This is getting tiresome. ‘Minister of State Fergus O'Dowd has said that the Government believes it can save €600m by tackling social welfare fraud.’ The claim that the level of…

If one were to look at the headline rate – GDP – you’d say, well, it’s not great in Ireland but we’re doing better than the Eurozone.  After all, the…

So we have more austerity and less growth, more debt and less jobs, more spending cuts and less investment – welcome to the Government’s Medium-Term Fiscal Statement.  You have to…

If I hear one more time that we have exited the recession I’m going to put my head through the computer screen.  We’ve come to expect this line from Cabinet…

ICTU’s pre-budget submission, ‘Growth is the Key’ poses a direct challenge to the austerity programme being pursued by the Government – in both its critique but, more importantly, in the…