For a look at this week's Sunday papers, Shane was joined in studio by GP and broadcaster Dr Ciara Kelly, public affairs consultant & Irish Examiner columnist Gerard Howlin, and economics writer Brendan Keenan.

Brendan started by commenting on the reports that the Government is planning to slash USC in the upcoming Budget.

"The money has to come from somewhere, but I think another danger is the structure of the tax system," he observed. "The Irish income tax system before the crash was terribly narrow. 

"That's the reason USC is so unpopular - that it hit a lot of people who were paying little or no tax before. It's a kind of mantra of Irish politics that below a certain level of income you shouldn't be in the 'tax net'".

On the subject of whether we are in danger of repeating past mistakes, Gerard said, "that horse has been galloping away for a year or more now.

Ciara suggested that "I laugh sometimes when I see Fine Gael going after Fianna Fáil, because in my view they should be in Coalition because they're almost indistinguishable. If it wasn't for the Civil War they would be one party. It's the same old, same old".

The discussion moved on to 'election fever', and the Government's view of both themselves and the opposition parties.

On Fine Gael's alleged strategy of publicly criticising Fianna Fáil and Michéal Martin, Gerard argued people "do not take kindly to that kind of abuse being dished out in the public conversation. So for a political party to ostensibly engage in that in a public way is a very two-edged sword, which I would advise them to be very careful about".

Other stories covered today include the role of Russia in Syria, and the continued cross-border controversy surrounding 'Project Eagle'. The panel also discussed the news this weekend that Mairia Cahill has been nominated for a Seanad seat, which Ciara called 'in many ways a clever decision by Labour'.

You can listen back to the full Paper Review below: