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LONG BEFORE THE election started it was said that the campaign would be fought on the economy.
If the first two days are anything to go by then that is absolutely true.
Yesterday, Enda Kenny committed a faux pas of sorts when he tried to dismiss questions about the dreaded fiscal space by saying he didn’t want to get into “economic jargon”.
But under pressure, and clearly unable to explain the detail, Kenny handed over his able Finance Minister Michael Noonan to explain the detail, with the promise of more today in the party’s much-vaunted long term economic plan.
Unsurprisingly, the opposition were not impressed:
Billy Kelleher TD / TwitterSince taoiseach can't explain fiscal space maybe buzz lightyear should be interviewed instead failing that we could try sheriff woody
— Billy Kelleher MEP (@BillyKelleherEU) February 3, 2016
Sinn Féin / TwitterFine Gael have been caught-out spoofing. They are making it up as they go along: https://t.co/VAdxg0p3PB #GE16 pic.twitter.com/Xn16EI7Bsy
— Sinn Féin (@sinnfeinireland) February 4, 2016
So, this morning, in a dark and cramped basement in Dublin’s CHQ building – Fine Gael’s questionable choice for its media HQ during the election – the party launched its long term economic plan – or LTEP for short.
TheJournal Politics / TwitterKraftwerk aren't what they used to be #GE16 pic.twitter.com/BHMVaVFVON
— TheJournal Politics (@TJ_Politics) February 4, 2016
The document makes big promises, including the creation of 200,000 jobs by 2020, the abolition USC over five years and the recruitment of 10,000 extra nurses, teachers and gardaí.
The 34-page document also has lots of words, graphs and charts to explain how it’s all going to work.
http://vine.co/v/iJjivD2HgXX
To deliver on its promises, Fine Gael is relying on economic growth of around 3% over the next five years.
This, the party claims, will create the fiscal space necessary to implement the plan.
The fiscal space? Are we still talking about that?
Rarely has a phrase become so hated so early on in an election campaign but the fiscal space is already driving politicos – and no doubt the public – around the bend.
David McCullagh / TwitterI suggested "wriggle room" as a replacement for "fiscal space" on #rtept last night. Disappointing response so far. #GE2016
— David McCullagh (@mcculld) February 4, 2016
In simple terms, the fiscal space is the amount of money that will be be available to the next government over and above what it is already spending on public services like health, welfare, education and so on. More on that here.
Is all this money guaranteed?
No. This money will only become available if the economy continues to grow at a rate of around 3% annually over the next five years. This is why Fine Gael constantly talks about the need to “keep the recovery going”.
But, in reality, the fiscal space does not actually exist or, as one Fine Gael source put it yesterday:
There isn’t a single euro of fiscal space right here, right now.
The spending outlined by Fine Gael today is based on what smart people working in the Department of Finance reckon might happen in the economy over the next five years. As Noonan said today:
The plans are based on forecasts and forecasts are based on assumptions.
But remember when economists forecast a soft landing prior to the great crash of 2008? Proceed with caution.
TheJournal Politics / TwitterThis is how Fine Gael is carving up the fiscal space #GE16 pic.twitter.com/7JPsrYFKz7
— TheJournal Politics (@TJ_Politics) February 4, 2016
How much is the fiscal space worth?
This is where things get really interesting if you’re a nerd, mildly interesting if you’re a casual observer, and even more boring if you couldn’t care less.
Fine Gael claims that the fiscal space is €10.1 billion. But Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin both reckon the fiscal space is much lower, in the region of around €8 billion – €9 billion, depending on which one you ask.
But the government’s own budget watchdog, the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (IFAC), says the fiscal space is just €3.2 billion.
That’s not all. As recently as last week Fine Gael was floating a fiscal space figure of €12 billion which Labour is also putting about. The junior coalition party has yet to publish its economic plans, so watch this space.
Hugh O'Connell / TwitterNot much fiscal space at the Fine Gael economic plan launch #GE16 pic.twitter.com/y3TmxEbYjA
— Hugh O'Connell (@oconnellhugh) February 4, 2016
So how does Fine Gael get to €10.1 billion?
Fine Gael cites Department of Finance estimates which say that €8.6 billion will become available with an increase in economic growth over the next five years.
In addition, the relaxation of EU fiscal rules – because Ireland’s economy has performed so strongly over the last five years – will mean an extra €1.5 billion becomes available in 2018.
Add it up and you’ve got your €10.1 billion.
Why does IFAC say it’s only €3.2 billion?
IFAC has factored in inflation – the rising cost of goods and services – over the next five years into its numbers. Noonan said today:
The Fiscal Council is basing its figure on building in inflation…. they’re building in figures to do what no government has done in this country: to allow up-front increases in bands and credits in income tax with inflation.
IFAC, Fine Gael says, is assuming that tax bands and rates will move in order to compensate taxpayers for rising inflation over the coming years.
It’s also assuming that there will be a 2% increase in public sector pay after 2018 and increases in welfare payments in line with inflation. No government has ever automatically linked such increases to inflation.
Noonan argued that separate measures, taken on Budget day, will compensate for inflationary pressures on consumers. The Department of Finance does not factor in these costs because ultimately it’s the decision of the next government as to whether tax bands and welfare payments should move in line with inflation. Noonan added:
I am not saying the Fiscal Council is wrong, I’m just saying they have a different way of estimating it.
Is Fine Gael really going to abolish USC?
So it says. The party says abolition of Universal Social Charge forms part of plans to make work pay – the idea that someone is always better off in a job than on the dole. Without doing anything else, it will cost €3.7 billion to do it over a five year basis.
However, the party argues that it will clawback €607 million from high earners, particularly those earning over €100,000. There will also be increased excise duty on cigarettes, which will bring in €349 million and improvements in tax compliance measures, which will bring in €250 million:
Because of this and other measures outlined in the chart above, Fine Gael claims that overall it will cost just €2.5 billion to abolish USC. The party says it will publish a detailed tax plan in the next couple of days.
What about this ‘rainy day fund’?
Fine Gael is pledging that a quarter of the fiscal space will be used for a contingency and stability reserve or a ‘rainy day fund’. This €2.5 billion will be set aside over five years to account for any external events or shocks that impact on the Irish economy.
If there is a crisis that hits Ireland the money will be deployed to capital programmes to maintain employment and keep up demand in the economy.
TheJournal Politics / TwitterFine Gael claims an endorsement from @BarackObama #GE16 pic.twitter.com/Fh3xkXj15t
— TheJournal Politics (@TJ_Politics) February 4, 2016
But it’s worth noting that the National Pension Reserve Fund was nearly 10 times the size of this proposed fund was gobbled up pretty quickly by Ireland’s financial crisis in 2008. In other words, €2.5 billion over five years isn’t a huge amount of money in the grand scheme of things.
I’m still a bit confused by all of this…
Don’t worry, you’re not the only one. All you really need to remember is that this fiscal space doesn’t exist. Not a single euro of it. As Michael Noonan said, it’s all based on forecasts which are based on assumptions.
There are an awful lot of ‘ifs’, ‘buts’ and ‘maybes’ that make it impossible to be certain that the billions and billions Fine Gael and co are talking about spending will actually be available to them or whichever parties form the next government.
Ultimately, the choice for you the voter will be which party do you trust on the economy. Fine Gael’s put forward part of its plan, the other parties will follow suit in the coming weeks.
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Fine Gael wouldn’t tell a lie just to get elected would they ?
FG talking bolixology again..and thinking we’re believing them.
Liars and Traitors, never again
after all their fantastic work on employment and the economy FG have secured my vote :)
good man tommy, keep drinkin’ the Koolade
Tommy MacDonagh – AKA – Dane Tyghe – new fake name – still same ould Blueshirt guff and spoof ???
Tommy you sound like the Fianna Fail supporters of the early 2000s, ‘sure it doesn’t matter if they blatantly lie and waste vast amounts of our money,and feck the homeless crisis and hospitals sure Enda said i could have a job! You’re a moron
FG to secure the recovery for everyone :)
I really hope I don’t have to look at bloody enda Kenny smug face for the next 4 years, please don’t vote fg. remember all you are doing if you vote fg is letting enda be a dictator for another term.
Tommy, they don’t allow 12 year olds vote I’m afraid.
Fg recovery only extends as far as their cronies and redacted……everyone else prepare for 5 more years of having their pockets emptied with stealth taxes , the country sold to private/profiteers, if you vote fg back in.
It’s a pity that the psych unit couldn’t secure you,Kenneth :)
dont forget the recovery for the hundreds of thousands that FG got back to work, truly a remarkable achievement :)
You do know you can seek help for the mental disorder Dane
I am laughing out loud at you,Kenneth :)
Which one of Enny Kenny’s austere policies ensured this remarkable recovery in some parts of the country?
T_witter_name same IP address as Tommy McDonagh mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Are you posting to yourself now Dane
Great record there, Noonan……..hound a dying woman Bridget McCole and threaten to financially destroy her on her death bed….while at the same time ignoring sex abuse and all happening under your watch while you were Minister for Health. Disgusting!
If that’s your role model…I can only believe that your morals are missing and people don’t matter to you.
Tommy – do not tell the truth here. You know it upsets IRA/SF, AAA and PBP. Despite their limited number the manage to thumb above their weigh through their multi-aliased accounts
Hey Powerabbey whats the going rate in YFG HQ for Trolling or is it a jobsbridge scheme ?
Just because you do it Powerabbey….doesn’t mean everyone else does, it’s always a mistake to assume others share your poor moral compass.
You should get yourself over to the fg Facebook page powerabbey and start defending them on there because they are getting called out on their bs and lies by normal working people who don’t see any sign of recovery…get yourself over there quick. There might even e something in it for you
Whos going to pay for all these public servants that are going to get 30% of their rent paid for them.. Is that in their fiscal waffle.
Hey guys – don’t get confused – I have been accused of being a troll for FG, Labour and FF this week. Unlike you guys I have no specific ties – except that I detest IRA/SF lies.
So you like austerity paying for five point plans reduced services bad health services and people who live in emergency accommodation reducing our tourist acvommodation
Tommy what fantastic work have they done?
Does ANY of their fiscal plans stack up? This is ALL about keeping power or getting into power! …….you are going to be promised a “pot of gold” if you vote for any of them, but the only thing you can be sure of is, you will not get that “pot of gold” and you will get 10001 reasons why they cannot deliver it! …….VOTE wisely my children!!!
None of these political people have the ability to understand of wisely manage our nation including its finance. This is partly due to the electorate who have a broken selfish outlook rather than an united national concern. Any candidate who would do what is required would not stand a chance of election.
My advice is get prepared for economic collapse and debt default. At 1/4 trillion euro debt we are not going to pay that back any time soon especially as we in the entitlement and apathy era of democracy.
So when are getting our private bank bailout money back? It was €64 billion I believe – they hope that we have forgotten.
New rules kick in this year from the EU – the expenditure benchmark.
Ireland has no wriggle room as we’re under a bailout and relaxation doesn’t apply, the rules state that.
Any more monies from EU ordering multi-nationals to pay more tax will have to go to pay the national debt, as well as pretty much anything brought in on bumper corporate taxes.
The Fiscal body got it about right with 3.2 billion over five years, way below FG and other parties’ forecasts. So about 600,000 euro a year available for spending and tax cuts.
A lot of people are going to very angry.
Am I the only one that thinks this whole “fiscal space” is an incentive to public service unions that FG will have money left over to buy them *after* the election, not before as they usually do (due to it not existing). Surely a more prudent plan would be to pay of the massive sovereign debt that Noonan created from FF’s clusterfock handling of finance, and not take in as much “fiscal space” over-taxation?
Still pretending we’re not in the European Union shinnerbot?
I know this good news is bad news for your party, but please, we’ve all done Junior Cert Geography here…..
Fastest growing economy as the ponzi banking system are lending money again – or should I say inventing money out of thin air.
Interesting how our “economy” is growing and yet our debt is growing… misleading for an election?
Nope.
Gross public debt as a percentage of GDP is due to fall from 98.4% in 2015 to 93.9% in 2016 to 85.7% in 2017.
GDP is as meaningless as your ‘fastest growing economy’ drivel, as it includes the profits that the multinationals repatriate to their home states. GNP is the important one.
Ah now Hugh, why did you take down my link???
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/fg-man-arranged-o-brien-s-meetings-with-ministers-1.1105090
GNP was at an all time high in the second quarter of 2015
Due to fall. Right. Noonan told ya that himself, yeah?
A vote for FG is a vote for corruption lies and broken promises.
We are no longer under a bailout. Though restrictions do still apply to what we can do.
3.2 billion over 5 years is not 600.000 euro. But I agree people will be angry when they see how they are trying to be deceived by the figures the government are putting forward.
A vote for FG is another nail in Irelands coffin, keep these criminals out of power!
Just like last time its Promises promises but they won’t be in Government on their own so its all meaningless waffle.
We’ll end up with a ‘Program for Government’ that none of us will have voted for and which will be written by themselves setting targets that will get them re-elected.
I’m sick to the teeth of this bulls**t.
Comical kenny strikes again,the sleeveen neck of him dismissing the shinner economics when the man clearly hasn’t a clue himself.
I’m not a fan of UK tabloids. But when I saw The Suns front page photo of Cameron dressed up as a soldier, with the headline of, “WHO DO YOU THINK YOU”RE KIDDING MR CAMERON” I kinda wished the same thing would have happened to Noonan a few year back. His ‘not a red cent more; was such a cheap tactic.
Can we please get some political articles that are not written by Hugh? Does literally everything we hear about how our country is(n’t) being run have to come from a die hard blueshirt?? This is getting beyong a joke.
beyond even
He’s obviously their political correspondent. Get over it
even LinkedIn wouldn’t call him that
https://ie.linkedin.com/title/political-correspondent
Hugh’s own page describes himself as a political EDITOR who is “responsible for overseeing and developing the political coverage in one of Ireland’s leading online news publications.”
Hands up (red) who thinks he’s doing a genuinely good job
Hands up (green) who thinks his own political preferences are a bit too apparent for him to be responsible for overseeing and developing the political coverage in one of Ireland’s leading (sic) online news (sic) publications
shinners are getting extremely paranoid :D
In fairness to Hugh, it would appear from the tenor of some of his recent articles that the scales may be falling from his eyes, and he is development a more realist attitude to his beloved FG. Or maybe that’s just my imagination!
Nah I wouldn’t be handing out blue peter badges for slowly realising their reinstatement isn’t such a forgone conclusion after all and starting to worry he was backing the wrong horse.
There are probably thousands of people stuck on the dole who could do a far better job of it.
No Rashers….it’s called moving to neutral ground in readiness for the next Government, who ever they may be. A ‘journalist’ must be ready and positioned to pump out the next Governments agenda…..what ever that may be.
Ah, I see….. Sometimes I think I’m too innocent for this world ;-D
Don’t care if it stacks up or doesn’t stack up, FG are dead to me also labour, taxing animals, dictators, delusional, eu puppets, would not believe any of them no matter what they say
That was a stupid political response artical. It opens with a question and after a load of mumbo jumbo jargon still spectacularly fails to give an answer.
Duuuuuuh!!!!!ehhhhh cant understand uhhhhhh all the money words!!!!too ehhhhhh uhhhhh potato….
Sounds like the Dail Bar to me or the bog in it?
Nothing fg ever does stands up unless it’s cronyism, lies and quangos. Then all the stacks line up and fg make sure what’s in it for me works well.
Littleone “what’s in it for me”??
Do you live in a country where rich care about poor? What about poor caring about the rich?
BULL S,
It’s usually the so called poor that slag the so called rich about
(Con’t) the “what’s in it for me”. Attitude.
Newsflash get off your hole and do something for yourself.
FG to secure the recovery :)
Tommy . what the hell are you on about? Forget your pills today.
Here tom . go have a read.http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/finance-minister-michael-noonan-admits-he-knew-about-foster-home-abuse-allegations-twenty-years-ago-34423839.html
with no viable alternative FG are the only sensible option :)
Tommy keep your crap for the posters. Bloody idiot.
I’d rather SF and FF
Yep Tommy and pigs might fly.
Dont feed the troll condo, they love attention as does Dane Tyghe
Hows about you wipe your lips as they are cover in FG Dirt, oh sorry the staple diet of a FG troll is BS…
Ignore Tommy. He’s a Finer-bot.
Tommy you must be due a name change. ; )
Sean I like that…the new term for FG lowlifes…
How is that a newsflash Tom?
tommy macdonagh, you’re a grand bunch of lads :)
Kenny was afraid that if he started spouting economic jargon, he wouldn’t understand what Enda was saying.
I don’t thnk anybody in FG even knows what fiscal space is. Kennys excuse was he didn’t want to talk about stuff that people wouldn’t understand, and none of them want to appear on TV for debates, thats the only conclusion i can get from it. And i dunno who in their right mind would vote for a party that don’t want to debate important issues of the day in TV. Are we just expected to believe their soundbites? Surely they don’t expect to win the election on nothing more than faith of the people? If they can’t explain such things and appear competent on such issues on TV, then why should anybody vote for them?
Everything you need to know about the fiscal space and its credibility….
FG claimed it was 12 billion
When that figure was roundly and rightly ridiculed by all and sundry, it magically became 10.1 billion, despite the fact that the metrics didn’t change.
They won’t even acknowledge the DOF estimate, the figure from the people whose calculations they used to run the state for the last 5 years.
So much for the ‘stability’ mantra.
FG putting creating thousands of jobs per week and that is the best you can come up with, you are slipping shinnerbot
Just so everyone knows this is the subnormal moron Dane Tyghe…Hows the driving school going..
https://www.facebook.com/dane.tyghe.1?fref=ts
Shall we publish your IP address and location for you and also the other FG Trolls with multiple accounts and show that your pretty much posting from the same location…In your case Wexford
The latest poll figures on Fine Gael are very encouraging. They Never have, or Never will, be re-elected by us. We are NOT Tories !!!!!
What plan, 7 of our last 8 budgets were done for us by the German government with the last being inspected by the ECB, THAT is because we use the Euro but do not own it therefore any financial plan has to be drawn up by the ECB. Remember Merkel brought in austerity and this government never said a word against it because they knew their place…
“Croke Park will host the Asia Pacific Ireland Business Forum on Friday next July 13 and Taoiseach Enda Kenny will be the key note speaker at this event.
Entitled ‘Asia Now – Maximising Current Business Opportunities for Irish Companies’ the forum provides an unrivalled network for Irish companies doing business in Asia.
Last year’s event, which was also held at Croke Park, attracted more than 300 delegates and was addressed by An Tanáiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Eamon Gilmore. The forum has since paid special attention on informing Irish businesses about opportunities in Asia.
This event is of particular interest to those looking to expand their business activities in Asia or those looking to explore opportunities in Asian tourism.
The work of the forum has used the GAA’s network of clubs and business contacts both in the Gulf Region and Asia and forms part of the Annual Asian Games weekend.”
http://www.gaa.ie/gaa-news-and-videos/daily-news/1/0607121657-croke-parkto-host-asia-pacific-ireland-business-forum/
That site was removed but yet we have the following one still and they talk about jobs and the economy while trying to create unemployment here at the same time…
https://www.dfa.ie/news-and-media/speeches/speeches-archive/2015/july/min-urges-businesses-to-seek-asia-opportunities/
Whatever happened to that Chinese business park in tipp?
What park?
Tayto.
Here Micheal…always worth a giggle… http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/337acre-chinatown-hub-comes-to-athlone-26848974.html
It has a touch of the Lowry casino about it.
Al, That looks very weird now… Makes you wonder if it was an April the First joke?
Ye should have stuck to teahing lads (kenny and noonan). Ye won the last election because it was a walkover, there was no competition. Now, there’s some competition, ye are folding, being exposed for being whoefully incompetent.
there is an elephant in the room when it comes to state finances……….fair play to ming for constantly bringing it up. https://www.facebook.com/Lukemingflanagan/videos/939532642790719/
god knows FF FG LAB etc will not.
There’s a lot of fiscal space where Noonan’s brain should be.
Nasty Noonan is taking the LPT out of Medical Expenses Refunds … Med1s.
Eeny,meeny,miny,mo,catch MICK Noonan by the toe, & if he sqealls, don’t let him go!
I would like to know where this fiscal space is too, ‘cos that’s probably where the LPT, USC, Pension levies, Health insurance levies, are gone. At least what’s left after Ministerial & TD severances!
What Fine Gael are most worried about at the moment is the looming election; and so would I in their shoes.
The ominous fact that they have NEVER, EVER been re-elected by the Irish people tends to sink in around this time
NEVER in their entire history have we given them a second term to apply their TORY policies. Basically because the majority of Irish people are NOT Tories. The only times Fine Gael were in power, was by default.
There is a lot of empty space between endas lugs.
Yuk. Plenty space in Noonan’s gob. Could the journal not get a more unflattering picture of our esteemed money man.
I know slightly off topic but will there be a story soon on this? :
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/finance-minister-michael-noonan-admits-he-knew-about-foster-home-abuse-allegations-twenty-years-ago-34423839.html
Les,Hugh is doing a feature on how Noonan knew about the abuse 20 years ago,when he runs out of anti Sinn Fein copy and paste stories.
Seriously.. ‘It wasn’t my fault, it was Austin Currie’. Yeah…
This ha ha Fiscal space is dependent on so many risky variables over the next five years that the least hiccup in world issues will knock it for six.
What if, for instance, oil prices were to increase ? Or USA and UK economies were to take a dip ? Or currency exchanges were to drop against the Euro ? ( all of these factors are the reason why our economy is doing well at the moment – NOT Fine Gael’s management, as they would have us believe. )
Or, if a Middle East squabble were to develop ????
Watch this Fiscal Space…
FG and lies… Now I can believe that…
Fiscal space, more like outer space
If bell Enda needed to count to 21 he have to get naked. Starting with his fingers then his toes and finally where his brain is. In his knob
Fine Gael ” Keep the coverup going ” #GE
Will people be coming home to vote, as many did for the gay marriage referendum?
I think fiscal space must be the gap between pudEnda’s ears!
Michael Noonan is an absolute bluffer. Fiscal space is a phrase which can mean pretty much anything depending on the context it’s used in. Enda was caught out ( yet again) which is par for the course. I’d love to see Noonan debate his fiscal space with Max Keiser live – he’d be destroyed in minutes. FG are lying to the people of Ireland yet again – vote them out folks for the good of the country.
Never assume. It makes an ass out of u n me
Hey Dane have you a mulitple personality disorder…or is it Tommy
https://www.facebook.com/dane.tyghe.1?fref=ts
Hows the driving school going, FG Lowlife Subnormal Troll…
https://twitter.com/danetyghe?lang=en
https://twitter.com/danetyghe1
He has two under his own name for starters, What a Numpty, lol
lol….He actually believes any ol’shite that FG dish out….guess he doesn’t understand how propaganda works on the weak of mind.
Hey his Nazi gods in Germany did the same thing in the 30′s and 40′s with weak mined C you next tuesdays…
So he is the face of the Robert Trump, Enda Kenny, Thomas Mac Donagh and countless other accounts on here? What an embarassment to the FG party. Never been so against FG still I started reading the comments section on here
I dont know if I feel anger or sorry towards all the people who actually believed there was a difference between tweedle dee and tweedle dum .They must be in a state of panic now wondering what will become of their beloved parties. I just hope it awakens a lot of people up to whats been going on the last 90 years.
Enda de Clown. Kept in hiding from leader debates and scrutiny by his own party.
He claims that he was not told of the invitation to appear on RTE…..the person that sorts his diary doesn’t think any request from the national broadcaster is of any importance….which means either they are not worth the money above the paycap or they are worth it because they know he would make an ass of himself.
You choose!
http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/kenny-i-was-not-told-of-rte-interview-invite-719055.html
“You will see enough of me, maybe too much over the next couple of weeks, believe me” Livin in the past there Kenny..
So he was the only one who didn’t know, how is that possible??? It is not.
Stack it any way you like but FG will get no vote from me.
Some serious optimism built into those projections. I would be surprised if Fine Gael’s economic plans do actually stack up. That said, I’m suspicious of those of other parties too. Don’t trust any of them.
Plenty of fiscal space between Edna’s ears
FG want to create a rainy day fund. ie: they’re trying to give an excuse not to cut taxes for the hard pressed taxpayers, they want to hold onto the money for themselves so that when they do eff up again, they’ll be able to cover up their own horrendous mistakes. The best thing they could do is to cut taxes, because the odds are they’ll waste it, and there’s no point in spending it on public services because they’re not capable of delivering on satisfactory services.
Fs is the new five point plan you’ll never hear of again after 26 feb
Hopefully when they are forced to go into government with FF to keep the loonies and IRA out, their fiscal plans will be balanced better.
Love it. Personally, I’ll only be voting for one person in this election but I’m so feckin’ happy to see that you’re so scared of the ‘loonies and IRA’ now that you’d support Mr Burns and Mr Snrub finally revealing they’re the same greedy gombeen.
Of course I’m scared of them. They are dangerous
FG need the IRA more than SF do.
Hilarious.
There’s nothing I’d like to see more than a merging of Fine Fianna Failures. One less pack of predators to worry about.
You’ll be happy so when they form the next government
I said I’d like to see them merging… I didn’t say I’d be happy for them to have power. FG and L formed a “government” arguably without merging at all so your logic remains nonsensical.
Ah the retort off a FG troll :
SFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRASFIRA
You Tories west brit idiots are so boring
Fiscal space = fortune telling
in FG’ s case its Wishful thinking
“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”
Joseph Goebbels
Take note when the FG ministers start every discussion endlessly repeating the FG mantra
a good example is the young buck Simon Harris.
remember the quote
…If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it……
All parties talk rubbish without exception and I think everyone realises that. While certaintly not perfect in governement Fine Gael have mended a dying economy.The biopharma sector which I and thousands of others work is booming at the moment and deleverd under a Fine Gael government. I know who I will be voting for.
In otherwords ‘ Fukc you , I’m all right Jack “
It’s tommy..
Do you only do the driving lessons at the weekend then, Dane?
The problem is …there is only fiscal space between Enda Kenny’s ears…..
P.S. Traditional FG voters – a vote for Fine Gael is a vote for Labour’s abortion policy. Why vote for a leader who implements the policies of other parties?
Can’t wait until they knock on my door, by god it’s going to be interesting.
So its not just fg that say there is fiscal space of billions but there actually isn’t a penny of riggle room, estimates of what could happen but it’s not really a promise!
Does Fine Gael’s shiny new economic plan actually stack up?
What economic plan, the German government did 7 out of 8 of our budgets and the ECB inspected the last one saying that they will have to undo most of it at the next budget…
We are too stupid to understand is that right Enda
Suggestion regarding unwanted canvassers
When pro goverment canvassers call looking for your vote
can I suggest you ask them to explain what is
FISCAL SPACE all about ?
This will irritate them as nobody knows but on the other hand
their discomfiture will amuse you a little and waste their time.
Mr.Kenny sir where is your 5 point plan or had I missed it and and Mr. Kenny what happened too all the promises you made last time. Yours truly, Paddy.
My fiscal space is €10 per month . What’s yours Michael noonan
Where are all the closet FG posters tonight? Forgot, they only comment on sf articles.
Kenny would at this stage sell his mother to create his legacy dream of the first Fine Gael Taoisech to be re elected. Be careful of their lies.
FG will eliminate USC, ” as part of an overall restructuring of the tax system”
Always study the small print t&c’s!
From previous experience with the pension levy, stated to be temporary but actually lifetime cuts to many non public pensions, (including for persons yet to retire), this USC item actually means that it will be collected under other subterfuge,stealth, taxes.
I won’t be codded twice!
have your say