Desperate measures bear own dangers
TIME does not heal all wounds. It is a year on from our bailout by the EU, IMF, Britain, Denmark, and Sweden. Ireland is effectively a client state with little power to decide anything of importance in the search for a path out of our present difficulties.
The decision to raise VAT is a case in point. The choice Michael Noonan had was to increase it by 1% a year over two years, or to increase it by 2% in one year.