Ireland-Celtic Tiger Is Constipated

The famous Celtic Tiger appears to be suffering from a dose of constipation brought on by over gorging on public expenditure.
The Government has turned an anticipated surplus of €1.8 billion into a deficit of €800 million.
Stamp Duty, Capital Gains Tax and VAT, the main taxes affected by the property boom collectively, are running €721 million below expectations.
Spending is growing at 17.5% - three times the 5.5% rate of growth of Revenue. Next year Minister Cowen plans to plug the hole by borrowing. Prior to the General Election a succession of FF Ministers including Brian Cowen and Dermot Ahern savaged FG proposals. They managed to convince the electorate that FG proposals were improperly costed. Their analysis of FG policies was fatally flawed.
The folly of over reliance on taxes from the property sector to fund public expenditure is exposed for all to see. The Government was warned by opposition politicians and some economists over recent years to change direction. This it singularly failed to do. It was more important to ratchet up public expenditure to unsustainable levels to win the election.
The Celtic Tiger urgently needs a laxative in the form of prudent financial management and tighter public expenditure. It does not require excessive borrowing.
According to Richard Bruton FG Finance Spokesman "The silky pre-election assurances offered by Minister Cowen proved to be no more than a 'Dance of the Seven Veils' to conceal the reality underneath. We see a boom squandered; high spending without reform; and big increases in bureaucracy, and with poor delivery at the front line.
"Now that the election is over, Minister Cowen has admitted to a massive €5,000 million black hole in the tax projections on which he based his Manifesto commitments. All of the glossy promises will be shelved. The Taoiseach is calling for wage restraint.
"This diagnosis may be correct for the economy, but Minister Cowen won't take his own medicine. The final insult must surely be the cavalier decision by Government Ministers to award themselves a massive pay increase. What sort of leadership is this? Do they take the public for complete fools?
"The Minister is pretending that this year will bring budgetary reform. This too is an illusion. "