The property tax will loom large at the next election

It’s that time of year again when the budget announcements for next year are just around the corner.

This year there seems to be something a little different in the air.

Whilst the Confidence and Supply voting arrangement between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil sets out that the agreement will hold for three years — that is until budget 2019 — there’s a subtle sense that the opening gambits of the next election are already in play.