SBP Editorial: Budget needs to deliver on prudence, not giveaways

Just six months ago, Fine Gael could campaign for re-election by assuring voters that it would keep the recovery going. Since the election, though, the circumstances have changed. Enda Kenny surely did not imagine that when his finance minister, Michael Noonan, would stand up to deliver his government’s first budget, he would be so heavily reliant on the Independent Alliance and Fianna Fáil.

He wouldn’t have imagined he would be dealing with the ...