As the Minister in charge of public spending, Jack Chambers is duty bound to play bad cop with his ministerial colleagues and their spending plans. More so now than ever. Government spending in Ireland is a runaway train.
Last year it came in €4 billion beyond what the Government sanctioned in the previous budget. Between 2019 and 2024, it increased by 54 per cent to €104 billion, equating to an average annual increase of 9.4 per cent, which the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council describes as “reckless”.
Despite a commitment in the Government’s Medium Term Fiscal and Structural Plan to limit the annual increase to 6 per cent, spending for the first four months of 2026 is already up 9 per cent.
But when Chambers attempts to baton charge his fellow Ministers with these worrying facts, he is undermined by the fountain of corporate tax receipts that continue to flow.
Receipts from the business tax hit a record €33 billion last year and are expected to go higher again this year.
