The tacit acknowledgement yesterday by the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, that cuts of up to €1.7 billion in day-to-day spending may be sought in the coming Budget is the latest in an accelerating litany of such revelations stretching back to the aftermath of the general election.
It confirms that the budgetary situation has deteriorated significantly since June, when the Department of Finance estimated that cuts of €900 million would be needed. The main reason is that tax revenues will fall short of the revised projection used in June.
While Mr McCreevy should not be given all the blame for the mess the Government finds itself in, he deserves a good portion. More importantly, the responsibility for rectifying the situation rests largely with him and what he can achieve during the estimates campaign and subsequent Budget.
As IBEC pointed out yesterday in its quarterly economic review, "some tough decisions will be needed that may not be palatable". Failure to tackle the looming crisis in the public finances would be to condemn Ireland to a return to boom and bust economics, the employers' group has warned.
There were hints dropped yesterday that Mr McCreevy may be baulking at the challenge facing him and once again be thinking in terms of style over substance. Last year he relied on a range of once-off revenue raising initiatives to balance his budget and disguise the deterioration in the underlying exchequer position.
Yesterday he seemed to indicate that he plans another raid on the coffers of the Central Bank to bolster his position this year. While arguments can be made for availing of such "rainy day money", it should not be used merely to avoid taking the correct, but politically difficult, option.
Some of these unpalatable options were floated at last weekend's economic conference in Kenmare. They included taking a holiday from payments to the National Pension Reserve Fund or overhauling the Special Savings Incentive Scheme. Mr McCreevy was the instigator of both initiatives and has made it clear that he sees them as something of a political legacy. Significantly watering them down or abandoning them altogether would cause him some loss of face; but no more than that suffered by the Taoiseach over the National Stadium climbdown.
Whether or not he is prepared to face up to these tough choices will be a true test of Mr McCreevy's character .