Rainy day fund – the odds are slim

Sir, – With warnings on unsustainable spending coming from the Central Bank, Cantillon believes now is the time to put some cash from our huge corporate tax receipts into a rainy day fund (Business, July 12th). The last such fund was introduced in 2019 and lasted a mere 16 months, usefully drawn down to deal with the pandemic.

The current cost of living crisis has already seen the Government inject ¤2.5 billion in cost of living supports, despite a budget deficit of ¤7.4 billion recorded at the end of December, scuppering any chance of resurrecting the fund for this year.

One wonders if such a fund can ever be revived with the current Opposition in the Dáil calling for an immediate emergency budget to deal with cost of living, further reductions in excise duties, scrapping increases in carbon tax, increasing the retrofitting and mica grants and when they get into power promising to remove the property tax, tax cuts for all workers (except the top 3 per cent), and all with no increase in VAT.

As the thousands of workers make their way back to the big tech offices in Ireland, let us hope these companies will continue to invest here, as there is no such thing as magic money. – Yours, etc,