Limbering up for the swings and roundabouts in Budget 2015

Today’s Budget will be the first in seven years that does not deliver crippling cuts to services and level unpopular charges on the Irish people.

It is also the first to be delivered by a fiscally sovereign Government, free from the imposing presence of the IMF and EU bailout partners.

Yet it takes place against the backdrop of growing anger over the imposition of water charges, as demonstrations on the streets and by-election results have shown. So, when Finance Minister Michael Noonan rises to his feet today, he faces a difficult balancing act — not just financially, but also politically.