Earlier this week great play was made by the Taoiseach and Minister Lenihan of an offer to the opposition parties. They invited the finance spokespeople into the Department of Finance for a briefing on the economy. They have also offered to cost all opposition proposals. The government claimed to want our ideas. Tog out in the green jersey and so on.
The true nature of these offers is clear from a quick scan of the papers today. Nearly every one of them have details of what is likely to be in the mini budget. Proposals on tax and spending are outlined in some detail.
It really begs the question of how genuine the government really is. They clearly know what they want to do already. If so, why do they want to speak to us. The answer is depressingly obvious.