Reacting to #Budget2025, the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (IFAC) urged the Government to be “more serious” instead of “repeating past mistakes” around spending. Tánaiste Micheál Martin tells Ben Scallan he “takes issue” with IFAC’s suggestion that the Budget isn’t serious.
Gript’s Ben Scallan asks Public Expenditure Minister what “lessons” exactly have been learned from successive cost overruns on State projects. #Budget2025
Just 4 months ago, 33-year-old Jack Chambers (a medicine graduate) was appointed Finance Minister of Ireland. Ben Scallan asks what it was like to head right into #Budget2025 having just taken up the job. Chambers replied that the €13bn in Apple money was a “challenge”.
Gript’s Ben Scallan asks how the State will avoid cost overruns on the Dublin Metro. Ministers Eamon Ryan & Ossian Smyth reply that projects like the National Broadband Plan are on-budget because they “balanced risk” between the State & the contractor as part of the agreement.
It was recently revealed that the OPW’s modular homes for Ukrainians had doubled in cost from €200k to €436k. Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien said that this doubling in cost “frustrates” him, adding that ‘lessons should be learned’. Question by Ben Scallan.
Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman announced “additional funding” to help “receive and accommodate” asylum seekers in #Budget2025. Asked how much the State has spent already on asylum accommodation since the start of the Ukraine war, he replied: “I can get that for you.”
Minister Heather Humphreys denies that the government announcing the biggest Social Protection budget ever right before an election is an attempt to buy votes: “It’s about supporting people.” Question by Ben Scallan
The Small Firms Association, which seeks to represent Irish small businesses, tells Gript ahead of the budget that in recent years businesses have been hit with an “avalanche of regulation”.
In the aftermath of the defeat of the hate speech legislation, John and @sarahcatryan unleash a torrent of what some might consider hate speech towards the bike shed, the children’s hospital, various members of the Government, and President Higgins. PODCAST: https://gript.ie/podcasts/we-can-hate-who-we-want-now/ 01:25 The Hate Speech Bill: A Win for Free Speech 04:36 Hate Crime Legislation: […]
Robert Tyler of New Direction says that the West needs to be “confident” and “stand up” for it’s “values” against those who would welcome it’s decline.
Recently Taoiseach Simon Harris and Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien said that there’s a link between housing issues, homelessness and immigration. Minister Roderic O’Gorman pushed back on this notion, but refused to outright say his colleagues were wrong.
“I’m being very clear here.” “You’re really not being clear, Minister. I’m asking you a simple question.” Ben Scallan grills Irish Education Minister Norma Foley on whether she personally believes that gender ideology should be taught to young children in schools.