It’s an election budget looking for an election in a phoney war where an outgoing Government has the audacity to talk of ‘medium term’ goals.

But in promising that the Irish Government ‘has consigned to the history books the era of boom and bust’ what did Michael Noonan and Brendan Howlin not tell us?

Yes, this budget is clever, but it is economically and socially inept.

As George Bush Snr said. It lacks ‘the vision thing.’

And the question remains? How would our forefathers feel about it, Michael?