No, but fixing the budget deficit requires fixing the tax system, not cutting our already low levels of public spending as prescribed by the Dublin Consensus. It's not obvious that the cuts they've instituted will make more than a very small difference to the deficit (according to ESRI figures interpreted by the progressiveeconomy people) because of the knock-on effects on tax income and the general effect on the economy of speeding deflation. It's not about deficit reduction, it's about looking good to the markets.