Budget bombshell has a long fuse wire stretching into heart of HSE

THERE is always a bombshell in a budget. Sometimes it can take a long time to spot, or to oppose. Sometimes the bombshells don’t get spotted for years. But there’s always something that, once it’s discovered, leads to unravelling.

Remember a few years ago, when Charlie McCreevy had nothing of any consequence to say on budget day, and decided to dress up his budget with a detailed announcement about decentralisation? It sounded dramatic at the time and, worse than that, it sounded popular.

Opposition spokespeople who wanted to attack the measure all drew in their horns because their own deputies were afraid of the consequences in localities that had been promised all sorts of new jobs.