The advisers who shout stop, but nobody listens
With the government consistently ignoring the advice of its own economic advisers, there is now talk of resignations, writes Jack Horgan-Jones.
The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (Ifac) is perhaps the ultimate bailout beast. Established in 2011, the state’s spending watchdog came into life surrounded by the watchwords of the era: prudence, reform and responsibility.
Steered by four of Ireland’s most lauded economists (and one international expert), the council was to be a key plank of the strategy that would safeguard against governments repeating the profligacy of budgets past.
Three years later, its members warn ...
