Government urged to show restraint amid €2bn overspend 

Recent budgets 'pumped money into an economy already performing well' Ifac chair Seamus Coffey told the Oireachtas Budgetary Committee

Speaking on Budget 2026, the council chair and UCC lecturer said spending growth should be no faster than the sustainable growth rate of the economy, given that it continues to perform well in the face of rising uncertainty and looming tariff measures.Photo: Sam boal/Rollingnews.ie

Ireland’s fiscal watchdog has warned the Government to exercise restraint on spending, calling on the coalition to set limits to offset what it has called a "weak fiscal framework."

Speaking at an Oireachtas committee about Budget 2026, chair of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (Ifac) Séamus Coffey told committee members that current spending overruns this year are likely to exceed €2bn.