Elderly, homeless and marginalised will suffer from the spending cuts

I HOPE you remember that you read it here first. Last March, I told you the cutbacks were beginning. I warned you it would start with stealth cutbacks in the hope you wouldn’t really notice. But as the slowdown in the economy begins to bite, the appetite for cuts within the system will grow.

Nobody took a whole lot of notice of that warning three months ago. But suddenly, the warning signs have started going off like a fireworks display.

Last week we had the minister for finance sounding like someone who has just realised he has taken a real hospital pass.