Fiscal Advisory Council chairman McHale asks why he wasn't given deficit-deal details

The chairman of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council has denied being put back in his box by the Department of Finance, and said the bigger issue was why the spending watchdog did not have access to all the information surrounding the budget deficit.

Yesterday, John McHale said the Government was obliged to cut the underlying structural deficit in the public finances by more than what was set out in the Budget.