While this assertion made this morning by the Minister for Public Expenditure remains to be substantiated, the country braces itself for another Budget in this era of austerity and uncertainty.
The Government has so far proved time and time again that they cannot be trusted, having changed or flatly reneged on many promises made pre-election, so why should it be any different on this day of Judgment?
Some ‘relief’ measures to make water charges as ‘affordable and fair’ as possible will be introduced, the Taoiseach said yesterday. When water is free, it is affordable and fair for everyone, I would postulate. In a country with such copious amount of rainfall, charging for water sounds as fair as charging Arabs for using desert sand to make sandcastles.
Whatever the case may be today, I am pretty sure that Government ministers will be the ones breathing a sigh of relief at the end of this Budget day, for holding on to power for another while.