Cliff Taylor

It's gone to over 9 billion.

That's a heck of a change.

Now, I know it's the difference between two big numbers,

perhaps the department are being cautious, perhaps they're being overly cautious in their run up to the budget in terms of putting their numbers together.

Some of the revision appears to be, is due to higher taxes.

Some of it is also due to

kind of the opaque area of non-government finances and the financing of local authorities and the revenues they raise from areas like property tax, finance of housing bodies.

And it's a little unclear exactly what's going on there, but it's all added up to a much bigger surplus.

And that's great on one level.

And it's notable that surplus is forecast despite the money that's been allocated in response to the fuel protests.

The government has some leeway.

Unlike most other governments, it has to be said, in Europe, who are scrambling for money.

But that brings its own problems as well, because every lobby group, every interest group, the unions in terms of public sector pay...

everyone is hitting the government over the head or will be saying, look, why aren't you giving us an X percent wage increase or why aren't you giving us a subsidy here because look at all this money you've got.

You know, don't be telling us about a rainy day fund, the rainy day is here.

You've heard all the lines, Sinn Féin, Social Democrats, everyone will be

on the government's case.

And it's going to be interesting to see how the politics of that play out, particularly because... There's no elections on the horizon.

There isn't, but there is, you know, might there be an election for a New Fianna Fáil leader sometime next year?

Are things entirely happy within the coalition?