We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
Updated 1.10pm
FINANCE MINISTER MICHAEL Noonan has said that people will be “astounded at all the good news I’ll be announcing” in the Budget on Tuesday afternoon.
Speaking to delegates at the Fine Gael national conference in Limerick, Noonan said that it will not be enough to get out of the bailout at the end of the year saying: “We have to get out and stay out.”
The Minister said that the country is fully funded into 2015 even without any additional borrowing and dropped a hint that Ireland may not need a precautionary credit facility when it exits the Troika programme.
This came after similar comments from the EU economic commissioner Olli Rehn last night.
At the end of his speech Noonan said he looked forward to people tuning into his Budget speech on Tuesday and said: “You’ll be astounded at all the good news I’ll be announcing!”
Earlier in a discussion involving other senior ministers and Fine Gael backbenchers, Noonan said there are still “bits and bobs” to work on in the Budget ahead of next Tuesday’s announcement but that a lot of the “heavy lifting” will be done with a growing economy.
Noonan said: “We have to continue meeting the targets imposed on us through the bailout and that means that this Budget will be reasonably tough.
“But this year we had a bit of room to ease back a little… and we promised people we would ease back a little.”
Noonan said that the government is aware of how “fraught” life is for a lot of families, adding: “A lot of individuals are on the edge, so we will be very careful in the adjustments.”
Asked by chair, Fine Gael MEP Mairead McGuinness, if the Budget is 99 per cent done, Noonan joked: “Ah there’s bits and bobs, you know…. some bells and whistles.”
Noonan also said that it is important for the government to have a “new blueprint for the economy” so as that the country does not go from “boom to bust, from boom to bust, from boom to bust”.”
He said: “During my time in politics we’ve seen good times, but we’ve seen an awful lot of bad times. Previously when the economy went into recession the solution was to get back to where we were before we collapsed. Now, that’s not a solution this time.”
He said that going back to where the country was before the economic collapse would result in “insolvent Ireland” and “broke banks”.
The Minister said that the property bubble “sucked the credit lines out of the economy and all the available credit went into development and speculation but the credit lines then weren’t there for the job creation, the manufacturing or services and so on”.
“What we are planning to do is that as we get out of the bailout at the end this year we’ll have a new blueprint for Ireland and it will have all the ideas that other Ministers are advocating,” Noonan added.
On the Budget he added: “While it’s still difficult, we know now that we can do it, we know now that the economy is stable again and growing”.
First published 12.29pm
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
I’m astonished that the figure is as high as one in ten. I would have thought one in 1000 would be far more realistic.
Mostly unethical parasites who care nothing for their country or countrymen.
Spot on, I’m surprised the UN hasn’t sanctioned Ireland for slave trading, as we seem to be exporting and importing people like its gone out of fashion.
We have no government.
We only have Stoogeen receivers, put in place by the corrupt/criminal Banking “elites”.
Who are these 10%? & can you give me a loan, I promise I’ll pay you back.
A Vichy govt, thats all we have.
What do they expect. We’ve had broken promises from this Govt. The one of the last thirteen years featuring Brian Cowen, Ahern and Micky Martin was a poster case for duplicity and will tie up the courts for decades to come. Prior to that we had Reynolds and Haughey and a hundred others. One in Ten, how is is that high.
I’d say the business leaders are distraught. They’re only accountable to their shareholders, and rightly so.
Whats happening here Michelle at the journal another another excellent article in one day.
Dermot, are you suggesting that not all of my articles are excellent? :P
Michelle not suggesting that for a minute but I am waiting on the article on judicial corruption ,please do not let me have to wait to long.
I wouldn’t believe on word uttered from their mouths and I have zero faith in this so called government.
I seriously (like a fool) actually believed they would follow through on half the promises and voted on a *anything but ff* basis.
I will never ever as long as I exist on this planet vote for anything to do with this shower.
Mark, though he was pretty clear, never again , mind you I include Finn fail in that too, and labour, to me their all self obsessed , cowardly, and date I say it , creepy
people voted this Govt. in because while they are crap and woeful they are still better than Fianna Fraud, being better than FF is easy but it still doesn’t mean that people should support you.
Well said Mike . There is nothing they can do or say ever again that will
have me believe them, FF ,the Greens are also in the same category ,
@ mark/paddy/michael j etc.
Are twitter copping on to your false accounts and the complaints of your constant trolling and verbal bullying.
Why should I stoop down to your level to explain myself to you.
You are a known and reported troll and perhaps (with the exception of the idiots you are paid to protect) a gobsh*te.
Now there’s a good little boy/girl and crawl back under your rock.
The only media you can trust is social media , people don’t trust businesses but media is a business there not doing it just so we can have information they want to make a profit, so if you don’t trust business don’t trust media, media is the most ruthless business of all , did the media do any investigative journalism during the boom while our politicians screwed us ! NO ! Wake up we have a biased media !
Glad to see somebody has brains on here.
The media just tries to brainwash us. The church got away with it for a long time and still are with some people.
Companies are PLCs mostly, focus on short to medium term goals, and shareholders are brain washed onto allowing directors receive excessive pay and pensions,
A head of a bank in Ireland is not the same as a head banker in England or France , most of them wouldn’t get a job elsewhere on that money??? At lest that is the perception
Like this mornings statement about wind power and 30000 jobs absolute bulls***e.Pet rabbit the turbines won’t be built on everycross roads in the country more lies.
People don’t trust the government that they themselves elected?
Not when they immediately turn round and not only forget their normal pre-election promises (which we’ve come to accept as par for the course — which says a lot in and of itself), but also the pre-election committments they publicly signed up to (like college fees, where Labour made great PR hay from signing pledges before the election) and even their basic party platforms (ike burning senior bank bondholders, which was in both parties’ pre-election manifestos).
I mean, you might *think* you elected this government, but it’s hardly the government you voted for…
Not when they lied to us to get into power…
Never again. FG ,FF, Lab, Greens. NEVER .
Actually Mark I didn’t vote for this government. The candidate I voted for as number 1 got in and isn’t part of the government.
But among those many that don’t trust the government will be people who did and will trot into the polling office and vote for FG and Lab … and then say they don’t trust them.
It’s bizarre.
ACCOUNTABILITY! is key. Until that happens, expect more of the same old “lies for votes”. We (the public) have a responsibility. Thinking otherwise, would be an illusions.
Government lol, still roughly same numbers, allowed senior civil servants include bonus thus avoiding 10 recent pay cut, why go on ? But who the hell do you vote for
One in 10? That many!
I’m amazed that’s it only 1 in 10, says all you need to know about the majority of people in Ireland when it comes to electing their nepotistic politicians, parish pump is alive and well! Irish politics can be summed up thus…government of the gombeens, by the gombeens, for the gombeens!
During the last election campaign kenny and gilmore etc “talked the talk” but when it came to “walking the walk” they turned out to be lame ducks .
They pulled off the biggest con job in the history of the state.
Exactly. FF/FG/Lab are still getting about 60% of the vote. One in five say they will vote for FF, a party that has proven to be a malign cancer in our society again and again and incapable of reform.
Geldof was right, banana republic,
arse licking peasants on the periphery of Europe
Sad and shocking statistics for our country.
The only solution I see is for RTE to make more TV programs with more entrepreneurial spirit like,
Feargal Quinn fixes your hospital
Feargal Quinn teaches you how to cook (efficiently!)
Fealgal Quinn’s Animal Hospital (pet cemetery more like it!)
Feargal Quinn’s guide to mental wellbeing (on the cheap)
Fealgal Quinn’s guide to cheap funerals and
Fealgal Quinn’s The Joy of se* Nah, step too far.
Trusting the media and government more than business is a dangerous road to go down
Trust neither vote for independents and don’t buy or believe newspapers. Very simple. People power will always win we just need to stick together.
Do you trust independents like Pinkie Wallace and Healy-Rae?
Big march on the 9th February in town … Unfortunately organised by SIPTU but a march none the less …. People power is our only chance now ..,, get these fools out….
The unions are a big part of the problem would put me off going I don’t support them in any way.Their as bad as the politicians.
Stephen, trust business , no way, have you forgotten banks and property developers hold the greatest level of responsibility for this mess, followed closely by government and our watch dogs
The only one in the world you can trust is your mother…when she’s sober.
Shock horror ! Always trust the journal ..hope u ain’t lying too me ..girrrr
“How can people trust the harvest, unless they see it sown?” – Mary Renault
Who could trust the bunch of EU lapdogs ? I mean they are a an absolute joke to this nation…….LEAVE THE EURO !!! and dump Kenny and the rest of the goons in Brussels
David Higgins must be on holidays
Until they start locking up those that are corrupt there will be no major investment in this Country, Outsidrrs looking in wouldnt trust us an inch and who could blame them
Yet we continue to want government involvement in healthcare etc.
If we’re never going to trust them, why do we continue to vote for the status quo each election?
Would be interested to see the figures in how many people actually hate this Govt and would vote them out (or worse) if given the chance.
Eamonn Gilmore accused Aherne,Biffo & McGreevey of economic treason before he got into government ,then he lied and was shown up for it on video tape in Mullingar, Now our great Labour (HA HA ) Leader punsihes the people at the bottom of society and he and his wife rip us off with large pay packets. I hope the Unions have seen through the Workers Labour Party WHAT A JOKE OF A GOVERNMENT
Businesses just follow the example of government – the government feed us horse sh-t and businesses follow with horse meat. We accept whatever we are fed.
Politicians and bankers can’t be trusted.
Further details by searching in Google for ‘Windle stops swindle’
A Chara
A Taxi Driver
i never trust lying ratcatchers
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say