Let's begin with Cliff Taylor, who comments on the average State spending overrun of €5bn a year since 2023, half of which is attributed to the impact of unexpected events (helping people with soaring energy bills) "But the other half is down to poor forecasting and budgeting, which does not reflect well on the Department of Public Expenditure (DPER)."

In his Saturday column David McWilliams points the finger at procurement, highlighting that "There is no central organisation that aggregates all spending, which might give a top civil servant or campaigning politician a clear picture of how much is being spent on what," which is what DPER was set up to do, no?

McWilliams point is somewhat borne out by Martin Wall's report this morning that the HSE is under pressure over health agency staff, as it's reported that the health service has spent more than €900 million on personnel recruited through external agencies last year. In his report, Wall says the HSE has told David Cullinane of Sinn Féin that "details on spending on recruitment services was not centrally collated nor separately identifiable from its finance ledgers."

Elsewhere, two Aer Lingus pilots made history earlier this week after becoming the first mother and daughter to operate a commercial flight together for the airline. 

Your Zen this morning comes from Malachy Clerkin and yesterday's spectacular All Ireland final: "Nothing else feels like this. Croke Park untethered, the whole place afloat for an hour on a lake of the sweetest tears that were ever cried. The people of Mayo, raddled and belittled all their lives, looking at each other in wonder and collapsing into each other’s arms. The decades of hurt and hope and loss all melting away forever."  

Have a great week.

NS