Today’s Budget is presented in the context of 4.7% growth in economic output for 2014, and a growth forecast of 3.9% for 2015.

Following seven austerity Budgets the Minister has taken the growth opportunity to loosen the Budget purse strings ever so slightly.

He proposes to reduce tax revenues by €420 million and to increase net voted expenditure by €630 million. However, tax buoyancy from a growing economy counter-balances these adjustments so that the Budget Deficit envisaged in 2015 is reduced by €1,445 million compared to 2014.

The 2015 Budget envisages a Current Budget Deficit of €3.73 billion and a Capital Budget Deficit of €2.75 billion.

Notwithstanding the tax reductions announced today, the improved performance of the economy is providing considerable tax growth so that overall, the Minister projects Tax Revenues of €42.3 billion in 2015, a 3.1% increase on the expected out turn of €41.04 billion for 2014.

On the expenditure side, the increase in the Capital and Current Spend of €215 million and €430 million respectively represents a 5.1% growth in the Capital Budget, and a 0.9% growth in Current Budget spending compared to 2014.

These are very modest changes and reflect the ambitions of the Government not to alter the direction of the public finances for a short term economic impetus.

The dramatic improvement in the Government’s control of public finances is reflected in the Budget Deficit as a % of GDP over each of the last five years and into next year as follows:

The trend is positive, and in the next few years we can at last see the opportunity of balanced budgets, and perhaps a reduction in the overall debt burden.