Rebuilding Ireland - A new set of standards is required

THE ink is barely dry on our Faustian pact with Europe but one of the cornerstones in the Government’s four-year programme has been dramatically revised.

The frequency with which Government projections transpire to be wildly optimistic is unnervingly regular. This failure of administration has become a characteristic of the economic crisis washing over us all though it is a symptom of something far more destructive.

It is very difficult to have confidence in the bureaucracy that seems unable to support Government with reliable, accurate enough predictions. That Government should accept as unchangeable this culture of failure is even more discouraging.