THE exchequer is celebrating an €845m windfall from last week’s 4G auction, but lobbyists say rural dwellers expecting a good broadband connection should leave the champagne on ice.

Tax revenues continued to out-perform expectations last month, according to latest figures from the Department of Finance.

Although the commercial viability of the Barryroe oil field has been established, the next stage is by no means risk-free.

ALMOST 58,000 young people will get their Leaving Certificate results this morning.

THE Exchequer has taken over funding of pensions for eligible dependents of deceased participants in the early retirement scheme for farmers.

Fine Gael has denied rowing back on a key pre-election pledge to cut the number of TDs by 20 despite new proposals to cut no more than 13.

The desperate state of Ireland's public finances is expected to top the agenda today when the cabinet holds its first meeting of the new year.

The Exchequer has announced weaker-than-expected tax returns for February.

The Dublin Chamber of Commerce tonight called for a directly elected Lord Mayor for the city.

The Exchequer’s stamp duty receipts from property transactions have increased three-fold in the past three years, according to the Central Statistics Office today.

The Government has sold off state property worth over €200m so far in 2006.

THE future is always difficult for politics. It is even more difficult for media. The consideration of long-term issues does not sit well with the to and fro of political competition, especially in the run-up to an election.

SPORTS MINISTER John O’Donoghue yesterday announced he had secured Budget-related funding that would allow work to begin on the Abbotstown Sports Campus in Dublin.

THE Exchequer’s extra €1 billion tax bonanza must be used to give householders a €2,800 tax break next year, Fine Gael said yesterday.

A guaranteed investment package of over €3.5bn for public transport has been unveiled by Transport Minister Seamus Brennan.

FINANCE Minister Charlie McCreevy has once again warned departments not to exceed their budgets even after new figures showed the Government borrowed €900 million less than expected.

Mary Dundon

CHARITIES are wide open to abuse by individuals seeking to evade tax, it was warned yesterday.

HERE’S a piece of spin. It’s actually a piece of political guff, from a master of the genre. It mightn’t look like it on the surface, but it shows how devious and cunning its author is. And how much he deserves to be watched.

THE British Government is losing almost €600m a year as organised gangs, including paramilitaries, are raking in millions smuggling petrol and diesel across the border.

There was an economic decline in the economy in 2001, it has been confirmed.