GDP figures: It’s payback time Minister Noonan

If that trend were to continue, Finance Minister Michael Noonan would find himself ideally placed in Budget 2015 to ease the next phase of the Government’s programme of austerity. In another positive development, a CSO revision of last year’s economic growth found that GDP grew by 0.2%, outstripping its earlier estimate of a 0.3% contraction.
Having seen the lifeblood sucked out of the economy for the past five years and money taken out of the pockets of people who have nothing left to give, those living outside of Dublin are wary of forecasts of an improvement in Ireland’s economic fortunes. There is no denying that for most people beyond the boundaries of the historic ‘pale’, a really positive impact of economic recovery has yet to be felt.