Is the church a net contributor to the Irish economy?

Dots1982

I’d imagine they are but I wouldn’t really have a clue how much. They own a **** load of land but that doesn’t mean they have to pay taxes on it? Holy orders largely run our school system but it seems state money pay for the schools and their teachers though I’d imagine catholic schools are on land owned by the church. So what do people think/know?

the_pen_turner

i cant see them being a positive contributer.
they spend money on building and nuns/priests buy cars etc but all the money is raised locally as well


i cant think of any time they have given back to the comunity. they seem to always have the hand out lucking for money for something

Guy:Incognito

Wouldnt you have to put a monetary value on 1 unit of abuse to add it up?

People giving donations is counted as taking from the economy too.

suicide_circus

do they send money back to Rome?

Darkglasses

Don't think they'd pay rates on their property, they'd be considered charitable bodies surely? Doubt they could afford the Rates on such prime land if they had to

JupiterKid

No, I dont think so.

Though in the first 50 years of the existence of the State the religious orders did provide services which would otherwise have cost the State money - however as we all now know, the social and human cost in suffering and misery of those "services" was enormous.

The church owns vast amounts of assets and non-liquid wealth and yet still asks people for money. No, I'd view the church very much as a parasite on both the Irish economy and society.

klaaaz

Instead of the church exploiting the poor, there should be a church tax for every member like in Germany. Then we'll see the real separation of the devout from the fairweather believers.

L1011

Dots1982 wrote: »

though I’d imagine catholic schools are on land owned by the church

Most newer religious school buildings were built by the state on land provided by the state. Ditto "their" hospitals.

kneemos

The Brothers and Nuns were paid for their services.

namloc1980

Last time I went to mass, the collection tray went around twice! Greed at its finest.

One eyed Jack

Dots1982 wrote: »

I’d imagine they are but I wouldn’t really have a clue how much. They own a **** load of land but that doesn’t mean they have to pay taxes on it? Holy orders largely run our school system but it seems state money pay for the schools and their teachers though I’d imagine catholic schools are on land owned by the church. So what do people think/know?

If by “the Church” you mean the Roman Catholic Church as an Organisation, including all it’s members in Irish society and their individual contributions to the economy, then yes, the Church is a major contributor to the Irish economy.

If you’re asking about their contribution to Irish society, that’s more like a “how long is a piece of string?” kinda question. I would say they were a major contributor to Irish society too, but evaluating that in terms of their individual contributions both positive and negative would be tricky to quantify.

Dots1982

One eyed Jack wrote: »

If by “the Church” you mean the Roman Catholic Church as an Organisation, including all it’s members in Irish sociiety and their individual contributions to the economy, then yes, the Church is a major contributor to the Irish economy.

If you’re asking about their contribution to Irish society, that’s more like a “how long is a piece of string?” kinda question. I would say they were a major contributor to Irish society too, but evaluating that in terms of their individual contributions both positive and negative would be tricky to quantify.

Well the topic subject clearly says economy so that’s all I meant. A debate about Contributing towards “Society” would be too subjective so would prefer that isn’t debated.

Mrs OBumble

Measure the voluntary work done by the likes of Vincent de Paul.

And the VAT paid on stuff that schools purchase with parent donations.

mikemac2

namloc1980 wrote: »

Last time I went to mass, the collection tray went around twice! Greed at its finest.

Always been like this. 20 years ago the same happened.

The first collection goes to the diocese. It might be spent on your local church but the bishop has to spread it around and some church’s don’t need much maintenance and some parishes bring in more money than others. Communism

The second collection is for their approved charities whatever they may be. Trocaire would be one

dotsman

The church is and always has been a massive leech on Ireland.

Everything the church owns in Ireland was given to them by the Irish people. In the early days of this state, church effectively acted as a second tax collector, taking money from the poor Irish siphon off significant amounts to contribute to the church's wealth and then provide education (ensuring another generation of believers/donors) with the remainder of the funds, all the while inflicting horrible abuses on the most vulnerable in society.

Rather than do a deal to limit the amount of compensation the church had to pay, which Fianna Fail did without asking the people, all schools/hospitals etc should have been confiscated (they can keep their churches) and handed back to the people of Ireland (who paid for them in the first place).

Plumbthedepths

Aaron Kavanagh wrote:

Oh look a bunch of assblasted athestists whinging yet again about the Church.

How do you know they're atheists?

kneemos

Plumbthedepths wrote: »

How do you know they're atheists?

Or assblasted.

foxy farmer

The religious institutions had huge sums sitting in banks during the Celtic Tiger. A lot of it tied up in bank shares. They lost their shirt when shares went through the floor in the recession. The Church Of Ireland had over 17m in AIB shares alone. They were worth about 250k a few yrs later. They took a serious hit on BOI shares too. The RCC had serious losses as well.

suicide_circus

kneemos wrote: »

Or assblasted.

CBS?

klaaaz

The Church of Ireland should not be exempted either. They forced the vast majority of the population to pay a tax to their established religious institution in the pre independence days, they should also pay reparations to the state for their crimes.