Further cuts and harsh tax increases on cards in budget

Further cuts and harsh tax increases are on the cards for next year’s budget following the latest figures forecasting the perfect storm of anaemic growth, unemployment, rising debt and falling pay.

Ireland will beat the budget deficit target this year and is still expected to cut its overspend each year to reach 3% by 2015, according to the latest forecast from the European Commission.

Economics Commissioner Olli Rehn revised growth forecasts downwards, again. He said we would have to wait to see what effect the latest forecast would have for the Government’s spending and money-raising plans and for the EU-IMF programme as a whole.