A report this month from the EU Commission made several negative comments about some of the changes, or lack of changes in Budget 2016. a) The report commented that reductions in USC were aimed primarily at increasing the incentive to work , but it would have been also a good idea to target increasing labour […]
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Troika
Troika Say Still More to be done in Ireland
The EC, ECB and IMF (aka. The Troika) carried out their 11th Review Mission to Ireland recently. Overall the media seem to be reporting that Ireland “passed the bailout review” – but there are still several areas where the Troika have concerns. The statement published on the IMF website mentions that “Recent national accounts data […]
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Budget 2014 – Will the Austerity Continue?
The government will be publishing a “stability programme update” this week, which will outline the state of the economy and will provide the basis for setting the Budgets for 2014 and 2015. It will set out revenue and expenditure paths extending to 2016. The April 2013 IMF review noted that ” Budget 2014 will provide […]
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Public Sector Unions Agree Deal on Pay Cuts
An agreement has been reached between the government and the public service unions on cutting €1 billion off the public sector pay bill. (Despite some major trade unions walking out of negotiations) Some higher earning public sector staff will see their gross pay cut by at least 5.5% if the agreement is accepted. Pay will […]
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Property Tax – Some More Details Emerging
The idea of a property tax in Ireland was mentioned by the Fianna Fail government back in 2010 – in their 4 year Plan . The IMF and the EU are strongly in favour of a property tax – and the current Household Charge is just a temporary measure to show that Ireland has at […]
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