Budget 2013 - Fairness must define the budget

Budget day is a little over a dozen weeks away but already the covering fire has been laid down and in some sectors it is already intense.

Primary battle lines on how the State spends money were drawn decades ago and like the frontlines in the First World War, they move a bit here and shift a bit backwards there but remain essentially fixed within modest parameters.

The never-ending conflict between creating wealth and redistributing it may not shape Finance Minister Michael Noonan’s deliberations, but the social truths at the heart of that process cannot be set aside. Equally, it must be recognised this budget will be about survival first, regeneration second and everything else third.