Some really telling macro facts from Richard Curran in the SBP recently (courtesy of “Media Management” in the west of Ireland…!):

TOTAL BUDGET ADJUSTMENT SINCE 2008:

• July 2008; spending cuts of €440m announced for that year
• October 2008; budget involved a €4bn adjustment of €2bn cuts and €2bn in higher taxes
• January 2009; public sector pension levy etc = savings of €1.8bn
• April 2009; supplementary budget = additional €3.3bn adjustment
• December 2009; €4bn budget.

Total?

€14bn of an annual adjustment since mid 2008.

Add in the now promised €15bn adustment by 2014…

GRAND TOTAL BETWEEN 2008 AND 2014 = €29bn annual adjustment.

Knocked me off MY chair, thats for sure…