AFTER A CERTAIN point we’ve really got to ask ourselves: what are we even watching the budget for any more?

The coalitional nature of our government means that the weeks leading up to the budget announcement tend to be marked by disputes over which departments get what in terms of funding, and a process which is often described in the media as ‘kite-flying’.

Kite-flying is when a government minister throws an idea out there to see just how much pushback they can expect from the public. Some kites have big brass keys tied to the end of them and end up giving the minister a nasty shock, which is probably why poor Patrick O’Donovan didn’t get his €100 culture cards for kids. 

But even though we spent so much time hearing about the internecine bickering that underpinned this year’s budget, the budget itself was a bit of a damp squib. I’ve never been sure what a squib is. Sounds like something that’s probably damp to begin with. Either way, Budget 2027 has been met with an almighty “meh”. And you know what, it serves us right for expecting anything different. 

By this stage, you kind of know what’s going to be in the budget before it comes out. A few billion here or there to keep the hope of a Metrolink in this century alive. Expanded tax exemptions for landlords, naturally, lest the country collapse without their dutiful service. A few million for the greyhound industry, since we have it going spare. No surprises. 

The price of cigarettes goes up incrementally, of course, finely balancing the stated aim of getting people to stop smoking and the unstated aim of making sure that enough people keep smoking for us to make some decent tax revenue out of it. We’re now going the same way with the........

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