The accountant in Charlie McCreevy came to the fore as he declared with some pleasure that he took "a conservative view of spending".
However, even Mr McCreevy had to let the scrooge-mask slip as he presided over the publication of the Book of Estimates for next year's Government spending programme.
Never before has a Minister for Finance had access to so much money. And with a forecast of 10 per cent for the increase in overall Government spending next year, he had plenty for every Department in the audience.
In all, total Government expenditure is set to reach almost £16 billion next year. Of this overall figure, some £12,964 million will be allocated for current day-to-day spending and £3,029 million directed towards capital projects.
The forecast £825 million increase in day-to-day spending gives a year-on-year increase of 6.8 per cent. This is well outside the 4 percent limit set by the Government when it came to power in mid-1997.
The difference is explained by savings from debt restructuring and a reduced interest rate bill.
Of this current spending increase, public pay accounts for an additional £527 million, with the balance of £298 million going to non-pay programmes in various Government departments.
Mr McCreevy had a strong and blunt message for the State's public servants - pay increases have to be curbed. Like a man getting ready for the battle ahead, he noted that restraining public pay had "bedeviled successive ministers for finance".
Almost half of current spending is now absorbed by the pay and pension bills of public servants. The Minister said each 1 per cent increase in the £6,622 million public pay bill costs the taxpayer an additional £66 million a year.
Two Departments - Health and Education - will account for the bulk of the extra £207 million in public pay in 2000.
A further 3,000 people will be recruited next year in the health services, while the £50 million in education will allow for the employment of more teachers and other schools staff across all levels.
However, one group of workers who will not do so well is the Minister's colleagues in the Oireachtas. Mr McCreevy has budgeted for only a 1 per cent increase in the salaries of TDs and Senators in 2000 although they can take heart following a 37 per cent rise in the monies available to fund travel to other parliamentary assemblies.
The non-pay side of the Estimates for current Government spending takes account of the expected fall in EU Structural Funds. Almost £60 million has been allocated to offset reductions next year in the EU Social Fund.
On the capital side of the Government's spending programme next year, an extra £598 million has been allocated over the 1999 level.
The Department of the Environment will get £239 million of this increase. Local authority and social housing is set to increase by 51 per cent, with 5,500 new homes being promised by the State.
An awareness of the potential political problems that could be caused by traffic is behind the increased expenditure on roads - up 28 per cent to £622 million in 2000.
Public transport will get an additional £235 million, bringing spending in this area to £350 million.
More money will be available for railway safety, and there will be more DART carriages and an integrated ticketing system for public transport in Dublin.
Current and capital spending at the Department of Education will top the £3 billion mark for the first time. The primary school budget will reach £925 million - a 10 per cent increase.
The allocation for second level will rise by 11 per cent to £1,079 million. However, the largest increase will be for third-level spending - up by 29 per cent to £794 million.
In an obvious attempt to address the much-publicised problems in the health services, overall spending in this area will increase by 17 per cent to £4,143 million. Along with extra money to reduce waiting lists, the hospital building programme will get an extra £60 million, bringing the total capital spend in Health to £213 million
Spending at the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs is projected to decline by 2 per cent to £2,761 million. The Estimates for spending next year allow for a 5 per cent increase in child benefit; a 28 per cent increase in the carer's allowance and, not unexpectedly given the strong job growth situation, a 22 per cent fall in unemployment benefit.
However, these figures tell only part of the story as Estimates do not provide for the extra expenditure that Mr McCreevy will announce on Budget day.
The Government's childcare package is expected to include a £40-a-month increase in child benefit, which would see a far bigger percentage increase on the figures contained in yesterday's document.
Facilities under the remit of the Department of Justice are expected to be significantly improved following increased money for the upgrading of courthouses and Garda stations State-wide, with respective 34 per cent and 102 per cent increases in spending allocated for next year.
And a further £25 million will be spent on capital developments in the State's prisons, including the refurbishment of Mountjoy to provide in-cell sanitation in all cells.
The witness security programme, set up in the aftermath of the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin, sees its allocation reach £650,000 - a 160 per cent increase.
Intriguingly, expenses for witnesses are expected to increase by 121 per cent next year.
Much of the detail of what projects the Government will spend money on in 2000 will become known only on Budget Day on December 1st. However, the Book of Estimates hints at some significant winners. For example, the science and technology development programme is set to receive a 132 per cent increase, bringing its annual budget to £60 million.
The GAA is to get £6 million from the National Lottery in 2000 for the redevelopment of Croke Park - a £1 million decline in its allocation for this year.
Also in the sporting area, grants for building new swimming pools and upgrading existing facilities will be increased from £3 million to £15.2 million - a 406 per cent increase.
The expenditure available to the Moriarty tribunal will rise to £8 million - a 72 per cent increase on 1999. However, the Flood tribunal has had its budget cut by 25 per cent to £2 million.
And the beef tribunal has not gone away, you know. It will cost the taxpayer £1 million next year.