Transport Minister Paschal Donohoe was in a bit of a hurry this week to outline some new speed limit signs. 80kmh signs on country roads will soon disappear in favour of the internationally recognised white circle with diagonal black lines through it.

The 80 on these windy country roads is a bit like that line from the Simpsons on the ‘all you can eat’ buffet. We should know it’s ‘an offer, not a challenge,’ so to speak. So from now on, we should drive at a speed that is safe to do so, under the 80kmh.

The changes don’t end there. 30kmh zones in housing estates and built-up areas will be more evident, again with new signs. At the launch, Minister Donohoe told us there was a website that would be developed over time, that would provide people with lots of information. Websites are where everyone goes now to find out more, but there was one problem:

.@Paschald announces speed limit and sign changes from today - the new website...... pic.twitter.com/sBPiYy3wLW

— Páraic Gallagher (@paraicgallagher) March 19, 2015

Speed isn’t everything was the lesson in more ways than one. Maybe by the time the next launch is planned, there’s another review that will take two years, that website will be ready.

Pre-election budget lessons for Noonan

Finance Minister Michael Noonan was left to run the country for the past week or so as the rest of the cabinet toured the world to spread the green message of St Patrick’s Day. He kept a low profile though and didn’t make any public appearances.

No doubt, he spent Wednesday in front of the TV watching George Osborne deliver Britain’s budget, the last before the election there, as Minister Noonan will have just one more before an election here. The lesson no doubt is that you can’t do a pre-election giveaway budget when you don’t have the money. Osborne, in fact, had to announce a raft of austerity measures to be implemented in the years ahead that make what we did here over the past seven years look a bit easy.

But remember the SSIAs – those savings accounts Charlie McCreevy got us all hooked on because he topped them up with free money? Well Osborne is doing the same now for first-time buyers who need to save for a deposit. It could be an option for Michael Noonan to consider for October’s budget as the new mortgage rules will have well kicked by that time. However, the leg-up to first-time buyers would have to be weighed up againsit a potential spike in house prices.

There is also an issue with savings rates. During the recession we had a problem with people saving up what they could for the rainy days, and the Government needed us to spend a bit in order to get the economy moving again. The problem now is that savings rates at the younger end of the population are below average, so that's an incentive they require.

The choices for Michael Noonan in his pre-election budget are very different to his UK counterpart. Here there really is no need for any further austerity - we are getting further tax cuts and extra tax revenues are allowing for overspends in areas like health and should allow for some other incentives. The property tax is the one big issue facing Ireland's exchequer. As property prices rise, everyone faces a rise in the tax when the freeze ends in 2017.

Michael Noonan’s announced a review aimed at some announcement in October. But what could he be planning?

Brian Keegan from Chartered Accountants Ireland spoke to Ivan Yates on Newstalk Breakfast:

Jobs for the boys – or the wife

A former Fine Gael junior minister grabbed the headlines this week for hiring his wife for a taxpayer funded €38,000-a-year job. John Perry, who was sacked in last year’s reshuffle, hired Maria Perry from January as his parliamentary assistant. It’s not against the rules but Fine Gael advice to TDs is not to engage in such practices.

Perry isn’t the first to hire a family member. Labour’s Seán Sherlock and Willie Penrose, Fine Gael’s Brendan Griffin and Bernard Durkan and Independents Mattie McGrath and Joan Collins have all employed family members.

The Sligo TD's actions don’t find favour with his Government colleagues, especially in the run-up to a general election. Speaking in Brussels on Thursday, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said it wasn’t wise.

“I’ve given my opinion on this before and for many years. I don’t think it’s a wise thing for politicians to employ family members” he said.

Mr Kenny went even further when answering questions in Irish, “I believe a member of family should not be working for any TD.”

Transport Minister Paschal Donohoe also felt Mr Perry’s actions were sending out the wrong impression.

Finally on Friday there was a statement from Deputy Perry, outlining that the appointment would not be a permanent one.

"After the reallocation of Minister of State positions in July 2014, my then Parliamentary Assistant of 7 years decided to pursue a new career direction.

For the six month period to December 2014, Maria Perry filled the position of Parliamentary Assistant on a purely voluntary basis. There was no cost or charge to the State for the work she carried out during that period. Having been an integral part of my political career for the past 18 years, Maria was eminently qualified to fulfil the position of Parliamentary Assistant.

In light of the growing work load in my office from January 2015 and the volume of work she was doing, I decided to appoint her to the Parliamentary Assistant position to bridge the gap until my preferred candidate for the position became available.

Thomas Walsh, who previously worked with me in my role as Minister of State will be taking up the position of Parliamentary Assistant in mid-April. Thomas has worked one day a week in my office for the past month, at my own expense."

Renua Ireland – taking themselves very seriously

Barely a week old and Lucinda Creighton’s new party has become embroiled in a social media row. It’s because the new party failed to register a Facebook account in time for the launch and as a result someone else got in there first with a parody account. But it all got a bit legal this week and as a result the parody account is now undergoing a bit of a name change.

Of course it’s not just on Facebook. A few Twitter pages have also emerged offering a humorous take on Ireland’s newest political party. But they may not last too long either according to the official Renua Ireland Twitter account.

@rossamcmahon We welcome & gladly receive critique, views or opinion of any nature, but we will not accept any claim to our identity.

— RENUA IRELAND (@renuaireland) March 19, 2015

After greening the world it’s back to reality

This weekend our Cabinet ministers and Ministers of State are back on these shores after their globe-trotting to sell Ireland for St Patrick’s Day. And expect them all to tell us one thing they learned on this trip in the weeks ahead – Sinn Féin in government would be bad. The coalition has been putting that message out there for some time, but it has stepped up in recent times and will again in the weeks and months to come.

The Government’s case about Sinn Féin was backed up by Goldman Sachs this week. Kevin Daly, a London-based economist with Goldman Sachs said the biggest threat to Ireland’s financial position now was no longer issues like mortgage arrears, but particularly political developments and the popularity of Sinn Fein.

Finance spokesman for the party Pearse Doherty discussed the comments from Goldman Sachs with Pat Kenny: