Budget cutbacks - Cabinet must take a stand that is just

The tax take the state enjoyed as a result of the property boom has largely vanished. The Government is clearly going to have to cut back on expenditure, or people will have to pay much more for services.

Two of the more controversial moves in the recent budget — the 1% levy on all income up to €100k, including those earning the minimum wage, and the plan to introduce a comparatively low threshold on a means test that would take the medical cards off those over 70. Those proposals roused such an unprecedented level of public outrage that the Government retreated in virtual panic. It dramatically raised the threshold of the means test for the medical cards and abandoned the levy on the earnings of those under the minimum wage.

The Government’s failure to anticipate the public outrage was a measure of just how out of touch it has become with the electorate. This was further reflected in the latest public poll in which Fine Gael replaced Fianna Fáil as the most popular party for the first time in history. Fine Gael actually enjoyed a comfortable lead that was well above the margin of error.