Sean Whelan: The economy is lively and revenues are up, but we are still far from out of the woods - and the budget is likely to reflect that

The Exchequer returns last week showed plenty of money flowing into the Merrion Street coffers, which naturally provoked much comment – some of it even serious – about reducing the tax burden.

Perhaps understandably, amidst the giddy excitement, we paid less attention to the spending side of the accounts, and the implications it has for the budget.

Brendan Howlin’s Department of Public Expenditure (or “DPER” as it’s known) is in the midst of ...