The Government has announced that is to bring forward the date of this year's budget to October 14. The move comes as concerns are voiced about the changing economic and fiscal situation both nationally and globally.

Yesterday (Wednesday, September 3) the government issued a statement which said that Ireland is now facing an unprecedented set of unfavourable international factors which are placing the Irish economy under considerable pressure and that it was accordingly bringing the budget date forward from December to October 14.

The preparation of specific policy measures, the Estimates process for 2009 and the taxation measures to be included in Budget 2009 are already well advanced and these will now be accelerated and will take account of the outcome of discussions with the social partners and with other key stakeholders.

It's understood that the government will be prioritising key capital investments within the framework.

of the National Development Plan and the Programme for Government to encourage faster development in key sectors to protect the environment and to build sustainable competitiveness in the economy as a whole.

Ministers are also developing specific initiatives which would serve to advance those objectives by encouraging investment and activity and deepening Ireland's competitiveness. It's expected that details of these initiatives will be announced in the weeks and months ahead.

Commenting on the Government's decision to bring forward the date of Budget the Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan, TD said, "The public finances are under considerable pressure as a result and, based on the latest information available, a tax shortfall of at least €5 billion for 2008 is likely at this stage.

"In the Budget, I will set out steps to stabilise and restore balance to the public finances by amongst other things prioritising current and capital public expenditure to reflect the changed realities."

Local Green Party Senator Dan Boyle said that the move will mean that the government will be able to bring in immediate measures to address the current financial situation. He said that while it was too early to tell what these measures might include, tax changes are possible as well as new controls on public expenditure. He stressed however that the difficulties being faced by Ireland are being faced by all Western economies and that in some ways Ireland would be at an advantage to deal with these because of the successes of the economy in recent years.

Comments (0) »

Show/Hide comment form

Name

Email

Title

Comment

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment