Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe says a mid-term capital spending review will identify the best ways to spend an additional €4.1bn earmarked on transport, education and housing in the coming years.

Measures need to be taken in order to make small and medium enterprises ’Brexit-proof’ or it “could derail Ireland’s economy”, a body representing Irish and British business has said.

The hard work and consensus-building of centrists in most European countries, including Ireland, is our best defence against the chaos of political populism, writes Paschal Donohoe.

Complex negotiations around the Department of Health spend are holding up other departments as ministers continue to hammer out the details of Budget 2017.

Fianna Fáil has launched proposals to reduce traffic congestion, make public transport more affordable and improve planning for commuters.

Inconvenient truth is that Stateowned companies are not essential to provide public services, writes Gerard Howlin

SEE them strolling along the platforms of Heuston Station with smiles so wide it almost hurts to watch because you’re sure their faces are hurting too. They’re announcing the Metro North project which they themselves binned four years ago.

Transport Minister Paschal Donohoe has insisted that the Coalition is not spending future governments’ money to win over voters now after launching a multibillion-euro Dublin Airport rail link to the city centre — which will not be completed until 2027.

WHITEWASH. Greenwash. Hogwash. Whatever kind of wash you’re having yourself, our Taoiseach has been spewing it at the UN climate summit in New York.

A New York City commuter train derailed on a sharp bend yesterday, killing four people and injuring dozens more.

Thousands of jobs on hundreds of “shovel-ready” infrastructural projects could be created, if the Government secures agreement on an EU stimulus package, it has been claimed.

The Construction Industry Federation has said hundreds of projects around the country could be given the go-ahead immediately if the Government secures agreement on an EU stimulus package.

Plans to locate the proposed national children’s hospital at the Mater site in Dublin city centre could be resurrected after management at three hospitals in the area said they were puttingtogether a fresh proposal.

THE decision by An Bord Pleanála to refuse permission for the National Children’s Hospital at Eccles Street, Dublin 1, has come as a bolt out of the blue to the development board of the National Paediatric Hospital, government ministers, the HSE and the Department of Health. I don’t like saying “I told you so.”

An Bord Pleanála has granted planning permission for the construction of the DART Underground in Dublin, despite the Government deciding recently to shelve the project.

BUS and rail fares are set to increase sharply in the new year following confirmation that the annual subvention to the CIÉ group is to fall by 8%.

Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin will today announce €2.2bn in public spending cuts, including a €700m reduction in welfare, health and education spending.

Ireland remains in crisis, Taoiseach Enda Kenny has warned.

YOU and I earn €1,000 a month but we spend €1,200.

THE prospect of the multibillion-euro Metro North system ever being built appears doomed after a key state agency said it was inferior to another major rail project — the DART Underground.

The Government is to announce tomorrow that it is shelving plans to pay for a cross-border road to Derry.

THE Government has signed off on a “significant but robust” capital spending programme for next year, with cuts of €750m to be shared by departments.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan has said it would be possible to raise the tax revenues called for under the terms of the EU/IMF bailout without raising income taxes.

THE rant now landing in Leo Varadkar’s ear is the delayed Ryanair rocket from Michael O’Leary’s mouth.

Transport Minister Leo Varadkar has insisted that a new Dublin Bus airport service, revealed this morning, will not replace plans for the Metro North.

Transport Minister Leo Varadkar has admitted that a decision still has to made Dublin's Metro North rail transport project.

Transport Minister Leo Varadkar has signalled today that the multi-billion euro Metro North and DART underground projects for Dublin are under threat.

The abolition of upward-only rent reviews, modernisation of bankruptcy laws, and "root and branch" public sector reform must be part of the next Programme for Government, according to Dublin Chamber.

PUBLIC sector pay should never again be set by a review body, but should instead be based on an average EU equivalent rate, according to Glen Dimplex managing director Sean O’Driscoll.

Ambitious plans for an underground rail link connecting Dublin city centre to the airport were given the green light today.

DEEP welfare cuts loomed last night as ministers began a marathon session thrashing out how to bridge a €5 billion black hole in the budget.

The Cabinet meets tonight with December’s Budget to take centre stage as Fianna Fáil reels from another disappointing opinion poll.

The Environment Minister John Gormley has warned the Department of Finance that his party will not accept the abandonment or delay of Metro North.

THANKFULLY there is still time to save the people of this country from the serious mistake of building a new national children’s hospital in Dublin’s north-inner city on the grounds of the already crowded Mater Hospital complex.

THE cost of borrowing to the state has eased since the Government put the cost of the banking bailout of €50 billion into the market on Thursday.

BLEAK though the economic outlook is we should be glad the Government has nailed down the cost of bailing out the banks, albeit a whopping €50 billion.

Work on the controversial Metro North project in Dublin is now expected to begin in April.

THE names of four international consortia bidding to win the lucrative multi- million euro contract to build an underground rail interconnector for Dublin have been announced.

About 270,000 jobs could be created by 2016 under Government plans to boost spending on enterprise, education, the environment and public transport, it was claimed today.

Dublin Chamber of Commerce has today welcomed Government plans to invest billions in the city's transport network, but warned that construction involved could cause widespread disruption.