what event will cause people to wake up?

newfrontier

6 years of tax increases.......... disposable income to be hit again this year and next year via water charges... remember property tax doubled this year!!!!!! This has already left people saying ,,,ouch!!!! I have nothing left!!

Then Labour promises a tax break at some stage not saying when (with Joan at the front and Brendan behind ) this seems to be fooling people ...with a bump in the polls reported today ...also remember dodgy bankers who caused the mess were set free with no consequences , the middle class get hammered and are treated like mushrooms....What event would wake people up ?

Brussels Sprout

Blocking Sky Sports and Coronation Street probably.


(and it's Fine Gael who are muttering about tax breaks-Labour are in turn making noises about boosting salaries of public sector workers)

newfrontier

yep sky sports would cause a reaction....but we need a major event while they are all on holidays to see we mean business and the usual bs wont cut it !!!

Rightwing

The country really isn't in a position to be slacking off from the austerity.

Short term pain for long term gain is how I see it.

NIMAN

The economy is meant to be improving, so you might see the usual amount of anti-everything chat gradually reduce over the coming year or two.

comongethappy

Ireland realised its government was/is spending more than it earns & that cannot perpetuate forever.

That's the only 'waking up' Ireland needed.

Villa05

Wonder do people realise that most of the income tax collected last year was used to pay the interest on Irelands massive debt.

Food for thought, if the current expectations are tax cuts.

We wasted a good crisis, where we could have fixed this country once and for all

Atlantic Dawn

If you look at the recent local elections they were pretty vocal in going against those who were voted in last time around to run the country. The current government have a system in place to control property sales so the banks can offload houses given to people who should never have got mortgages to people who probably should, making a very nice markup in the process.

Cookie_Monster

Rightwing wrote: »

The country really isn't in a position to be slacking off from the austerity.

austerity is about spending less, not just raising more income. Plenty more cuts can and should be made before spending is increased and taxes are increased.

carpejugulum

Yes, the deficit is still ridiculously high.

woodoo

Rightwing wrote: »

The country really isn't in a position to be slacking off from the austerity.

Short term pain for long term gain is how I see it.

Short how.. eons?

newfrontier

newfrontier wrote: »

6 years of tax increases.......... disposable income to be hit again this year and next year via water charges... remember property tax doubled this year!!!!!! This has already left people saying ,,,ouch!!!! I have nothing left!!

Then Labour promises a tax break at some stage not saying when (with Joan at the front and Brendan behind ) this seems to be fooling people ...with a bump in the polls reported today ...also remember dodgy bankers who caused the mess were set free with no consequences , the middle class get hammered and are treated like mushrooms....What event would wake people up ?

What are we to wake up to? the fact that we live in a modern European county with all the benefits it brings and that costs money, people are not fools they know who they voted for we live in a democracy. I would like to think people don't vote based on who ever promises them they will pay less tax.

Geuze

Villa05 wrote: »

Wonder do people realise that most of the income tax collected last year was used to pay the interest on Irelands massive debt.

2013 direct taxes on income, profits = 21,592m

This includes CT but excludes PRSI.

2013 debt interest = 7,407m


See here:

http://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/er/gfsa/governmentfinancestatisticsapril2014/#.U_GzevldWSo

Geuze

newfrontier wrote: »

6 years of tax increases..........

Note that the revenue collected by the State has remained fairly flat over recent years:

2009 = 56bn

2010 = 55bn

2011 = 55bn

2012 = 57bn

2013 = 59bn

GreeBo

Wake up and do what exactly?
Something, something, Fat Cat Bankers something something?

golfwallah

newfrontier wrote: »

6 years of tax increases.......... disposable income to be hit again this year and next year via water charges... remember property tax doubled this year!!!!!! This has already left people saying ,,,ouch!!!! I have nothing left!!

Then Labour promises a tax break at some stage not saying when (with Joan at the front and Brendan behind ) this seems to be fooling people ...with a bump in the polls reported today ...also remember dodgy bankers who caused the mess were set free with no consequences , the middle class get hammered and are treated like mushrooms....What event would wake people up ?

There's the possibility of external economic shocks such as oil or gas shortage brought on by escalation of conflicts in Europe (e.g. Ukraine) or the Middle East. There's also the risk of a change in US Law that would impact on US multinationals based here.

Internal pressure could come from more demand for housing in Dublin as a result of our high birth rate: http://www.thejournal.ie/birth-rate-ireland-esri-1181009-Nov2013/

The jury is still out on wayward bankers - but, boy, aren't we slow to get things done!

I'm sure others could think of unforeseen major events that could shake us out of our complacency - i.e. of the low risk but high cost variety (such as happened with the latest property crash).

Idbatterim

6 years of tax increases.......... disposable income to be hit again this year and next year via water charges... remember property tax doubled this year!!!!!! This has already left people saying ,,,ouch!!!! I have nothing left!!

Then Labour promises a tax break at some stage not saying when (with Joan at the front and Brendan behind ) this seems to be fooling people ...with a bump in the polls reported today ...also remember dodgy bankers who caused the mess were set free with no consequences , the middle class get hammered and are treated like mushrooms....What event would wake people up ?

6 years of hurt because they adopted their cut as little as possible approach, which in my opinion was ill advised. An extra billion a year cut from budget 09 would have shaved what, 2 years (?)of this head f**ck of seemingly endless austere budgets and everything that goes along with it!

Id also like to know who has nothing left, because the only ones getting any sympathy for me were those made unemployed and the private and public sector workers & the genuinely vulnerable!

There are still a large amount of people sitting pretty nicely, pensioners, some public and private sector workers, the government of course. The career welfarers living off the back of others hard work, having everything handed to them on a plate from the working poor or those with celtic tiger era debt, who are "entitled" to SFA!

ART6

newfrontier wrote: »

6 years of tax increases.......... disposable income to be hit again this year and next year via water charges... remember property tax doubled this year!!!!!! This has already left people saying ,,,ouch!!!! I have nothing left!!

Then Labour promises a tax break at some stage not saying when (with Joan at the front and Brendan behind ) this seems to be fooling people ...with a bump in the polls reported today ...also remember dodgy bankers who caused the mess were set free with no consequences , the middle class get hammered and are treated like mushrooms....What event would wake people up ?

Whatever happens to the bankers and the politicians who created this mess is irrelevant, and punishing them will not change anything however attractive that might be. "We are where we are" as the politicians like to say. Clearly the state is spending more money than it is collecting, and irrespective of EU rules that cannot continue indefinitely. The short term fix is to simply take more money out of the pockets of the people, but that reduces spending in the economy and leads to deflation. Cuts in government expenditure is the only long-term answer, but cuts where when the deflation is already creating increased costs in unemployment payments and welfare etc? Cut benefits? Evict people who can no longer afford their mortgages and make them dependant upon the state?

Consider: we were promised a new form of government and a bonfire of the quangos that then were costing the people some €18bn a year. What we actually got were a small number subsumed into others and more created, including the largest (Irish Water) in the history of the EU. Irish Water will never in a million years ever recover its costs unless it charges an average of €1,000 per household for water and without it, it will never pay the government the dividend that it expects.

This is just another example of the financial shambles that passes for government in this small country. In preparation for the next general election there will be lots of good news, and a few minuscule cuts in taxation that will do nothing for the economy but which might lead to a few more votes from the proletariat. Meanwhile, the elephant will continue to occupy the room!

golfwallah

I'd agree that punishing bankers and politicians for not doing their jobs will not change anything that has already happened.

Obviously, the past can't be changed and we still have to deal with the situation we are in now.

However, holding senior managers and politicians more accountable and liable to punishment for misdeeds will have an impact on current and future behaviour.

As things stand, it makes little difference, if such people avoid doing their duty when faced with difficult situations. Classic moral hazard scenario - someone else will pick up the tab (i.e. the taxpayer), if they are reckless or just decide to take the easy way out by doing nothing. Just think of how banking regulation worked in Ireland before the crash!

The prospect of not being guaranteed a "golden parachute" and having to account for their actions is bound to make such senior people think twice and, hopefully, do what is right rather than what is least uncomfortable.

Difficult, I know, but isn't that what these people are getting paid for?

quadrifoglio verde

Geuze wrote: »

Note that the revenue collected by the State has remained fairly flat over recent years:

2009 = 56bn

2010 = 55bn

2011 = 55bn

2012 = 57bn

2013 = 59bn

While the tax take hasn't changed massively, the amount of people paying income tax has fallen significantly.

But OP, you can do two things when the amount you're spending is more than what you take in. You can borrow money now so that you continue spending more than you take in, however that isn't going to last or you can cut spending and increase taxes. Telling germany to put their head between their legs until they've kissed their ass isn't going to do us any favours when we're going CAP in hand to them for money.