Prudence is very boring when young and old expect payback

NEXT week’s Budget will be a pivotal moment in deciding where Irish politics goes now. For some time Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has been talking about the need for prudence. Fianna Fáil has argued that this must be a moment to help young people who are struggling to rent, never mind buy, a home.

And the Independent Alliance has a clear desire to get something for older people.

All three parties to the Budget have their priorities – but collectively they don’t add up to prudence.

Finding that balance will be a real challenge for Mr Donohoe, who is also facing a nation with great expectations.

The crash is over but many of the problems it gave birth to remain visible in our daily lives, particularly when it comes to housing.

Fianna Fáil sat on its hands during the recent motion of no confidence in Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy – but now it’s payback time.

Some time ago its expenditure spokesman Barry Cowen floated the idea of a saving scheme to help first-time buyers.

The proposal fell off the radar until now. The scheme would be more practical than the current Help-to-Buy one which offers a rebate on up to four years of income tax.

It would certainly go down well with hard-pressed renters who hand over more than the average mortgage repayment every month for a home or apartment that will never be theirs.

However, whether Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil can agree the parameters of such a scheme before next Tuesday remains to be seen.

One thing they have settled on is the now inevitable €5 rise to the old age pension.

There is a growing expectation in Leinster House that an election is not too far away and for that reason everybody is chasing the so-called ‘grey vote’, in particular the Independent Alliance.

Ministers Shane Ross, Finian McGrath, Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran and John Halligan have made a virtue of bringing forward measures to help our aging population.

The €1,000 ‘granny grant’ for grandparents who take on childminding duties has been shot down as unworkable.

It has been followed by the ‘granny flat grant’ which is pitched as a measure to help increase the country’s housing stock. In time it will be shot down too because of the lack of detail being put forward.

But perhaps for now it’s enough for the Independents to be seen to be arguing for older people.

Fianna Fáil has famously demanded a €5 pension hike in every budget since the confidence and supply arrangement began.

Taking ownership of that fiver is key to all involved because, as every politician knows, older people vote.

It all suggests that everybody involved has decided prudence is very boring and unlikely to garner many voters.