There is a particular kind of Irish political trick that relies not on outright lying but on the careful management of appearances. The government says one thing, does another, and trusts that nobody will be so rude as to check the sums.
For years now, ministers have told us that Ireland is squirrelling away its corporation tax windfall — saving for a rainy day, building buffers against future shocks, acting like the responsible adults we Irish have so often, historically, failed to be. It has been one of the more reassuring stories in Irish public life. It is also, it turns out, largely fiction.
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