Pat's Sunday Paper Review May 10th
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What are the main stories covered in the Sunday papers?
The Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk. Now I'm joined in studio by Craig Hughes, the political editor of the Irish Daily Mail. And we'll start with that paper, the front page there. Undercover Gardaí met tragic Evan before shooting him. There's quite a lot about that story inside the paper. Front page of the Sunday Independent. Tax cuts and hike to living alone payment are a budget priority. The Business Post, exclusive PTSB investors, high court bid to block the sale of that bank. The Sunday Times, Ukrainians will get Irish payoff on return home. And another intriguing story, Beijing spiring tried to court Kian Corla, according to the Sunday Times. And much more within the papers. Craig, what has taken your fancy this morning?
Yeah, well, good morning, Pat. I suppose it's hard to get away from Fianna Fáil in a lot of the papers. 100 years. Exactly, yeah. And we're coming, of course, next week we'll have the centenary of events and, of course, the party's annual Ordesh. Talk has died down a bit this week in advance of that, of challenges to Taoiseach Micheál Martin's leadership. He was saying this on the Independence Day that he has a full mandate. And the rebels within the party have, I guess, lowered their voices for now, I suppose, until we have the next bit of turbulence that might spark that off again. And interesting to see an interview with Minister for Social Protection, Derek Leary, seen as being one of the frontrunners to succeed Micheál Martin, saying in that newspaper that, you know, he's not getting into any discussions on that.
But interestingly, he will make a decision on that if the vacancy arises. He's kind of the quiet man, isn't he? He is, but I suppose what really brought him into focus during the fuel protest was a sense within the party that they were losing touch with rural Ireland. He's obviously from Mayo, holds a rural affairs portfolio as well, broadly liked across the party, very much a man of rural Ireland. So that's what kind of brought his position into sharp focus there again. And of course, previously a deputy leader of the party. And it's an interesting time for Fianna Fáil. And I suppose we see with the government, the talk of the budget already beginning. And I suppose and also from the Taoiseach as well in that regard, you know, not ruling out tax cuts, talking about not ruling out extending excise.
And I suppose they're being forced into these early discussions on what they're going to do in the budget. because of the persistent calls for an emergency budget by the opposition, by the squeeze that people are feeling around cost of living. And they're being boxed into kind of making these early promises.
And in the meantime, you get a massive overrun in the HSE?
And of course, the Department of Education, and this is something I was writing about a couple of weeks ago. So Minister of Public Expenditure, Jack Chambers, has told all government departments now that they're going to have to pay for the overspending of their colleagues, which has caused quite alarm.
And there is a problem here because they look every month at the tax receipts and they are burgeoning. There's loads of money and yet they're being told you can't have more. And the reason is they don't want to embark on spending that will have to continue.
Yeah, and so we know that the spending is going to increase by about 6% a year. So that's the plan, at least. It's already higher than what the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council want them to do. So look, there's lots of risks if you go beyond that long term, but also in the short term when you come to inflation. But it was interesting talking to a few cabinet ministers about this in recent weeks. They're kind of saying, hold on a second. And one government department overspends their budget and the rest of us are being penalised. So doesn't that create a kind of a perverse counter incentive not to stick to your budget if you know you're going to be bailed out by your colleagues?
Other parties in the headlines, I suppose, in your own paper, The Mail, Sinn Féin will pay for failing to make hay while the sun shines.
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