Fiscal watchdog backs €1.5bn budget plans

The country’s fiscal watchdog has delivered a huge endorsement of plans by Finance Minister Michael Noonan to deliver a budget package of up to €1.5bn in spending increases and tax cuts next month.

The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council says that the plans will not after all break strict European Union rules that insist that countries like Ireland that carry large debts should rapidly pay down their deficits.

Coming less than a month before Mr Noonan delivers what he has termed a “mildly expansionary” budget, IFAC’s views will come as a huge relief for the Coalition and remove a potentially huge political embarrassment ahead of the looming election.