Pill
July 2, 2008, 8:04am
1
This really irritates me.
Full article:
Tax shortfall of E1.5bn to mean cutbacks
(BizWorld)
The government is to hold off for a week on announcing financial cutbacks in response to tax receipt figures that are due out later today.
The figures are expected to show a shortfall of at least 1.5bn euro in revenues for the first half of the year.
Asked in the house yesterday if he already knew what was in the half year figures, Mr Cowen said tax revenues for the first six months were down but he added that exact figures would not be available until today.
He said that finance minister Brian Lenihan had briefed the government in general terms about the figures and would issue a statement after their release.
Mr Cowen told the house: "We will have a debate next week on the National Development Plan and the economy, which will present a good opportunity for the government to outline the general position.
“Given that tax revenues will be back from where we expected them to be because of the international financial situation, it will be necessary for us to work to our expenditure targets within the budgetary parameters we have set ourselves.”
The Taoiseach said the rest of the year would be a “challenging time”, with the government also facing decisions on the estimates for next year’s expenditure targets.
Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore said the fall in tax revenues was the fault of the government’s economic policies rather than the global financial situation.
businessworld.ie/livenews.htm?a=2215204;s=rollingnews.htm
yes, its all the “international financial situations” fault…
Zanu-FF successfully outsources blame to external forces
Ozzy
July 2, 2008, 8:44am
4
It is the international situation that’s at fault, not enough of the international population coming over here to buy & rent overpriced houses while they build even more overpriced houses.
they are set to meet their inflation targets though
What there not telling you is that, as the department of finance has been under reporting the estimates for god knows how many years the position is much worse than just 1.5 billion,all them yearly surpluses must have been spent on something.If it was on current spending then that money is not available for day to day running either.
Pill
July 2, 2008, 10:33am
7
Borrowing to make up gap, Cowen hints
Brian Cowen told the Dáil that prudent economic management said that in good times you build surpluses, and in bad times you have deficits. He said no responsible commentator was suggesting that the expected €3 billion shortfall in tax revenue should be made up in spending cuts this year.
The Taoiseach insisted that the Government would work within the budget spending limits it had set, and that the increased costs due to rising unemployment would have to be met by finding savings in other areas.
AdvertisementHe said there was no painless or easy formula by which the Government could do this - but, he said, they had to ‘cut their cloth to suit their measure’.
The Taoiseach was criticised by Opposition leaders for presiding over the economy in the run-up to the current difficulties.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny claimed the Government had ‘blown the boom’ and engaged in reckless spending without anything to show for it. He said if the Taoiseach would not accept responsibility, the people would not believe he could steer the country out of this mess.
Labour leader Eamon Gilmore raised a number of cases of people worried about cuts in services. He said the Taoiseach was responsible for today’s Exchequer figures, because he led the country into the economic difficulties that we now had. Deputy Gilmore said that from the best of times, Mr Cowen had walked the country into the red.
rte.ie/business/2008/0702/economy.html
