EDITORIAL: Hardest hit will be hit hard ... again

Hardest hit will be hit hard... again

The sixth successive year of austerity for the beleaguered Irish people, and the harshest so far, begins on Wednesday when Finance Minister Michael Noonan delivers Budget 2013. For tens of thousands of struggling families, next year promises to be ominous.

Despite Coalition spin about leaks, the dogs on the street know the broad outline of what is coming down the track: Property tax, higher car taxes, costlier fuel, dearer alcohol and cigarettes, pension pot taxes, paring back benefits for rich pensioners, a mansion tax, child benefit cuts, plus a crackdown on free travel fraud.