During the general election and throughout the negotiations on the Programme for Government, the advice of independent experts, including the Fiscal Council and the Central Bank, was to limit current spending growth and tax giveaways. They argued that outstanding sovereign debt remains substantial and only a sustained run of budget surpluses could avoid another enforced tightening whenever tax buoyancy begins to fade, a risk that ministers have been acknowledging for years.  The new government is willing to run the risk regardless and has confirmed its intention in the rambling text of the Programme for Government (PfG).  The mischievous suggestion that…

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