Budget giveaway ‘would break rules’

The Coalition has been put on notice by fiscal watchdog the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council that its plans for a pre-election giveaway budget in October will break the EU’s strict debt-reduction rules.

The severe reprimand comes as analysts said that exchequer receipts published yesterday showing buoyant tax revenues for May mean that the Coalition is on course to collect a huge bounty of up to €2.5bn for giveaways in its October budget ahead of the election.

The Department of Finance laid out plans in April for an expansionary budget of €1.2bn, split evenly between tax cuts and spending increases.