Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

For the purpose of illustration I will talk through this, but the Deputy is not to tie me to the precise figures. The opening position last April was that we needed an adjustment of €2 billion to get the deficit down below 3%. That was to be divided in a proportion of 2:1, with roughly €1.3 billion from expenditure cuts and €700 million from tax increases. As the budgetary position improved over the year, the level of adjustment estimated by officials in the Department began to narrow. It is at such a point now that, if I did nothing in a fortnight’s time - if we brought no budget in - there would be roughly enough money in the Exchequer to run the country on the basis of no policy change in 2015 while bringing the deficit down to €2.9 billion, or around there.

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