Minister Says Budget 2015 Will Be 'less Demanding' Than Expected

Minister says budget 2015 will be 'less demanding' than expected

The Cabinet will discuss the 'overarching' approach to the next Budget this morning. The Finance and Public Expenditure Ministers are bringing a joint-memo setting out the overall targets, with less cuts and less tax increases expected than in recent years. Minister Howlin says it is still far too soon to pinpoint targets for individual departments - but he says the economic outlook is improving. Brendan Howlin says the government will meet its deficit target without the need for the same level of cuts seen in recent years. "We certainly will not have to make the adjustments of the 2 billion scale that was forecast in last year's budget that would be require in 2015 to get to the deficit target of 3 percent or below" he said. "So we'll have a less demanding budget than that" he added.