{"id":288057,"date":"2026-01-16T19:46:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T19:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/288057\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T19:46:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T19:46:09","slug":"taxpayers-cash-not-a-solution-for-every-problem-harris-told-by-officials-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/288057\/","title":{"rendered":"Taxpayers\u2019 cash \u2018not a solution for every problem\u2019, Harris told by officials \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ministers should be conscious that taxpayers\u2018 money is finite and \u201cnot a solution for every problem\u201d, the Department of Finance<\/a> has warned.<\/p>\n

In briefing material for its Minister Simon Harris<\/a>, published on Friday, the Department of Finance suggested that \u201cexcess\u201d corporation tax receipts were masking what could be an underlying deficit of more than \u20ac13 billion in the public finance this year.<\/p>\n

Officials maintained that public spending had increased by 75 per cent (about 40 per cent after adjustment for inflation) since before the pandemic. <\/p>\n

They warned that \u201cfinancing such an increase in spending on the basis of a narrow tax base is a serious fiscal vulnerability\u201d.<\/p>\n

The briefing document drawn up for Mr Harris on his appointment in December show officials were concerned about a lack of budgetary discipline caused in part by Government spending increases during the course of the year.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Ireland\u2019s tax take hit record \u20ac106bn in 2025 despite fears over Trump tariffsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the surface, the public finances are in relatively good health \u2013 for next year, a modest exchequer deficit is in prospect, accompanied by a headline general Government surplus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Below the surface, however, \u201cfundamental weaknesses persist\u201d, officials warned.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Department estimates that \u2018excess\u2019 corporation tax receipts amount to around \u20ac18 billion \u2013 these are revenues that are not linked to the domestic economy and could prove transient. This implies an underlying deficit of over \u20ac13 billion next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of the problem lies in the \u2018in-year drift\u2019 \u2013 multiple fiscal events over the course of the year. Another part of the problem is the \u2018monetise every problem\u2019 approach \u2013 rather than address the underlying structural problem, line Departments and Ministers need a renewed consciousness that taxpayer\u2019s money is funding spending. It is a finite source and not a solution for every problem. \u201d<\/p>\n

The Department of Finance also maintained that the \u201cstock of [national] debt this year is projected at over \u20ac209 billion (62 per cent of GNI*)\u201c. <\/p>\n

It said on a per capita basis, \u201cthis is among the highest in the developed world\u201d. <\/p>\n

Officials also said that the cost of debt-service was set to rise in the years ahead.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is because rolling-over (refinancing) maturing debt (much of it issued at zero coupon during \u2018quantitative easing\u2019 and the pandemic) will be more costly in an environment of higher interest rates.\u201d<\/p>\n

Officials said that \u201cvalue-for-money considerations must be reprioritised\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cPublic spending has increased from \u20ac67 billion from just before the pandemic to \u20ac118 billion for next year \u2013 a 75 per cent increase in just seven years. In-year spending drift has contributed to a lack of budgetary discipline.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ministers should be conscious that taxpayers\u2018 money is finite and \u201cnot a solution for every problem\u201d, the Department…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":288058,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[79,8452,22779,18,19,17,44],"class_list":{"0":"post-288057","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-corporation-tax","10":"tag-department-of-finance","11":"tag-eire","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-simon-harris"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115906503118473348","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=288057"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288057\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/288058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=288057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=288057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=288057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}