Budget 2015: Megan Greene: Irish people rightly feel they deserve something back after putting their backs to the wheel – but a giveaway budget this year would be reckless

A year ago, the Irish government expected that it would need to find €2 billion worth of tax hikes and spending cuts in 2015 to reduce the fiscal deficit to 3 per cent of GDP in keeping with the targets set out by the European Commission. Since then, the economy has rebounded more robustly than expected, and tax revenues have outstripped forecasts while spending has come in under expectations.

With growth estimates for ...