MICHAEL NOONAN may have his faults, but we’ve never thought vanity to be one of them. So imagine our surprise when we saw him on Wednesday evening’s television news wearing a different tie from the nice yellow one he had been wearing less than an hour earlier when delivering his budget.

It turns out that the pattern on his tie was creating a “strobing” effect under the lights. Presumably this meant that the sight of him might have brought on fits in some members of the viewing public. So when he appeared on screen, the Minister for Finance was wearing a fetching dusky pink silk tie.

Finance official Eoin Dorgan, always immaculately suited and booted, stepped into the breach and handed over his tie to the boss.

Meanwhile, Eoghan Murphy of Dublin South East was disappointed on Wednesday when he – referring to our fondness for sending messages to each other on our mobile phones – asked the Minister for Finance about the possibility of “taxing texts”. However, young Deputy Murphy got his words a bit muddled and inquired about “taxing sex”.

Noonan welcomed the suggestion, but wondered how he would go about collecting such a levy. A turnover tax was mentioned, along with VAT at the point of entry.