Budget 2018: betting on growth to pay the bills
Negotiations between the parties needed to vote the budget through have led to a patchwork of measures to try to keep everyone on board
The budget delivered by Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe was cleverely constructed from a political point of view, raising revenue largely from the business sector and tobacco and using it to increase spending and reduce taxes on income. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA Wire
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe were always going to put their own stamp on their first budget. The shape of the spending and tax package clearly reflects some change in priorities, if not a new direction. As seems inevitable in the current political set-up, the negotiations between the various parties needed to vote the budget through have led to a patchwork of measures to try to keep everyone on board, as well as answering the political priorities of the day.