Eamon Quinn: Schedule of IFAC assessments should be changed

As John McHale prepares to step down from the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, he can scan across the positives of the Irish economy since the watchdog was set up at the height of the crisis.

Unemployment has more than halved from the crisis peak to 7.3%; huge levels of emigration are no longer inflicting ever deeper scars; and the Irish 10-year bond is no longer flashing red for default, helped in no small part by the belated grip the ECB has taken to keep the euro bloc from falling apart.

In his swansong, Prof McHale nonetheless had to admonish the Government’s spending plans.