The Department of Finance provided repeated warnings to the Ahern governments about the risks involved in running pro-cyclical budgetary policy during the boom years, a report published today revealed.
However the report, drafted by a team commissioned to investigate the department’s performance over the past 10 years, criticised it for not altering the tone of its warnings as they were ignored in successive budgets.
The report said the department also warned about the dangers of an overheated construction sector. “The department’s assessments of the risks from the Irish housing bubble were at least as strong as any public analysis over the period,” it said.
Curious timing. Still…
Budget Warnings Were Overruled (Irish Times)
In Other News: Ahern To Be Shot With Hardened Balls Of His Own Shit.