Tánaiste Micheál Martin with Jack Chambers at the launch of Fianna Fail’s General Election Manifesto: Moving Forward Together, Smock Alley Theatre, Dublin. Photo: Damien EagersIreland’s public finances are in rude good health. The budget is in surplus, spending is increasing and cash is being set aside in two new funds. Little wonder, then, that all the parties are hoping – assuming, even – that this will continue and basing their manifesto plans on a rosy scenario.
The election of Donald Trump as the next US president puts a spotlight on this. It does not mean that foreign investment will disappear overnight, or tax revenue will fall. But Trump’s tariff and tax policies – and his goal of returning investment to the US – do increase the risks for corporate tax revenues here, probably from 2026 on.
‘Is that your wife? You should be ashamed’: a charity collector’s anti-immigrant hate in south Dublin However, what we have heard so far does not show much evidence of facing up to this, or at least does not outline what choices the parties would make were things to start to go wrong. This is perhaps inevitable in an election. But already the extent of the promises are building up – including plans for massive extra investment,higher pensions, lower USC and income tax and so on.