#Budget18: Prudent Paschal on dry land with politically-proofed plan

While not an election budget, it could well be Paschal Donohoe’s final budget before we find ourselves at the polls, writes Daniel McConnell

"Harmless, I suppose, is how you would describe it,” came the description of Budget 2018 by one Cabinet minister in the Dáil canteen yesterday evening.

A “damp squib” is how Labour’s Joan Burton branded it.