Economy still only in the group stages - Tax take up, but too early to cheer

It is standard footballing strategy to downplay a team’s ability in advance of a big game in the hope that the result will be better than forecast and the cheers of the supporters will be all the louder at the final whistle.

Now, nobody’s saying Finance Minister Michael Noonan took a leaf out of the football manager’s handbook when he predicted the tax take for 2015 at the start of the year.

However, it’s hard to deny that when the result is almost €3bn better than forecast, the temptation is to lift the roof off the stadium.