Mixed messages on vaccinations and on-off lockdowns have slowed Ireland’s recovery from Covid, but the budget has performed, and delivered, far better than expected. Mr Varadkar said the Government’s aim was “to be in the middle of the pack when compared to our eurozone peers”. Of course, a lot of that is driven by the well-known distortions in Irish GDP numbers that overstate the size of the economy. Even on this measure, Ireland’s finances have performed relatively well – France, for example, saw its debt-to-GDP ratio rise by 18.1 percentage points to 115.7pc. “The key to fixing the public finances is to restore employment levels,” says Tom McDonnell of the Nevin Economic Research Institute.

Source: Irish Independent April 29, 2021 01:30 UTC