Cutting public sector pay will cut the tax take

It must be dangerous to be a bird in Dublin these days.

The government that promised transparency has instead adopted a kite-flying approach. The kites pop up and, like modern-day Benjamin Franklins, a government minister hangs on as it drifts into the storm, and then gauges the lightning.

Occasionally they get singed. Sometimes they escape and withdraw for another day. And it’s not just the Government. Every other aspect of social partnership is busy with economic balls and fiscal paper and silk, constructing and testing kites.