Cormac McQuinn and Pat Leahy join Jack Horgan-Jones to look back on the week in politics:
This week the Government unveiled a €250 million package to help citizens meet the elevated cost of fuel. This could be just the start of a series of new efforts to keep down the cost of living.
After ending such supports in the last Budget, it seems the Government isn’t minded to stick to its guns when times get tough and while the money is there. But what will happen when a crisis coincides with tougher fiscal times?
The renewed threat of inflation is having an impact across the economic and political landscape. Inflation means unpredictable costs and that is especially bad for one key area.
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Other Government departments will be asked to bail out the Department of Education, which is facing another large budget overspend this year. Will this request brew inter-departmental strife?
Our population is growing and our constitution stipulates there should be at least one TD for every 30,000 people. Should that rule be changed before we end up with an excessive number of Deputies? Maybe - but a referendum on the issue is unlikely under this Government.
Plus the panel pick their favourite Irish Times articles of the week, including Newton Emerson on an issue uniting left and right in Belfast, Big Tech’s Big Tobacco moment and Malachy Clerkin’s report on Ireland’s heartbreaking loss against Czech Republic.
