Bord Snip: How to Manage Public Spending from Memo to File

Bord Snip: How to Manage Public Spending

1 hour 22 minutes Posted May 28, 2026 at 5:01 am.

Introduction

"Delivery": An abandoned public spending code

Project sizes, considering regional airports

The Bertie Bowl saga and the value of process

The Exception: The National Broadband Plan

An Bord Snip: For emergencies, not forever

Don't say it! The Children's Hospital

Democratic legitimacy and Metrolink

Protected structures and using land

Private capital and the state's advantage

Populism versus trade offs

Institutional memory and Haughey tactics

Wrapping up: It's not all bad!

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Show notes

Economist Colm McCarthy discusses infrastructure delivery, fiscal prudence, populism, accountability and more.

McCarthy was a member of the Expenditure Review Committee, often referred to as An Bord Snip, which was an advisory group established during a period of economic downturn in the 1980s to make recommendations to the the Irish government on cuts to state spending.

Colm later chaired the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes, more commonly known as An Bord Snip Nua, which was a similar government advisory committee established following the financial crash in 2008.

Clip of former Taoiseach Charles Haughey's "living beyond our means" address courtesy of RTE Archives.

Further Reading:

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