{"id":410378,"date":"2026-04-21T17:49:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T17:49:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/410378\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T17:49:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T17:49:13","slug":"global-threats-to-result-in-tighter-spending-amid-inflation-concerns-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/410378\/","title":{"rendered":"Global threats to result in tighter spending amid inflation concerns \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ministers will be warned today that tighter spending controls are required in their departments to stick within agreed budgets at a time of growing international threats to the Irish economy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Updated forecasts due to be published today are expected to show that the public finances remain on track for a healthy surplus this year and that even if the world economy slows, the Irish economy should continue to grow.<\/p>\n

However, with signs of inflation already beginning to set in and the potential for high oil prices continuing because of the conflict in the Gulf<\/a>, Ministers will be urged to control and eliminate potential overspending.<\/p>\n

Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers<\/a> is expected to tell colleagues inflation will constrain what resources can be made available later this year, particularly if high energy costs continue.<\/p>\n

Chambers\u2019s Department of Public Expenditure is already seeking to pull back an expected overspend of some \u20ac600 million in the Department of Education.<\/p>\n

Planned spending increases, including on programme for government commitments, will be endangered if Government departments cannot keep within agreed budgets, Chambers will warn.<\/p>\n

Minister for Finance Simon Harris has said his department, along with Chambers\u2019s, will publish forecasts for different situations. These include continuation of the Middle East war and associated pressure on oil prices.<\/p>\n

Yesterday, Harris raised the prospect of the return of energy supports in the autumn if the war continues.<\/p>\n

\"\"Another Fianna F\u00e1il heave that wasn\u2019t <\/p>\n

Asked if he would rule out a return of energy supports, Harris replied: \u201cNo, it would be foolish to rule anything out, quite frankly … We\u2019ve got to get the balance right \u2013 the balance between trying to help people in the here and now, because it\u2019s tough for people … but we\u2019ve also got to make sure we have economic firepower to respond in the winter to deliver a good budget, a budget that can advance commitments in the programme for government but also a budget that can help people if this crisis is continuing.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cWe made a big intervention last week, but we also need to make sure we keep that powder dry for what could be a difficult winter if this conflict is ongoing.\u201d <\/p>\n

Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin stressed that the Government is conscious of \u201cfiscal sustainability\u201d in its response to the fuel crisis.<\/p>\n

Defending a recent package of measures for the transport and agriculture sectors, he said it was \u201cessential\u201d that the Coalition enabled food production, adding that modern-day trade was dependent on hauliers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are conscious of fiscal sustainability and the need to make sure that whatever we do is fiscally sustainable over the medium term,\u201d he said in Dublin on Monday.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Four ways the Iran war could make life more expensiveOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Harris said that today\u2019s forecasts would mean that \u201ceven in the various scenarios, we will be able to plan for a budget in October that … can keep our economy secure and safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also reiterated that he expected to see income tax cuts in the budget.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are clear commitments around income tax and I\u2019m determined we make progress on those … I\u2019d like to see progress on that in each of the four budgets the Government will deliver.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ministers will be warned today that tighter spending controls are required in their departments to stick within agreed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":410379,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,113,61,60,13808,1843,70],"class_list":["post-410378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-jack-chambers","tag-micheal-martin","tag-simon-harris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=410378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410378\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/410379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=410378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=410378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=410378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}