The wondrous adventures of Sinn Fein (part 3) Mod Notes and Threadbanned List in OP

A combination of a vacant property tax and a higher LPT on taxpayers with 2+ properties would reduce property hoarding. Carve out an exemption for rental properties within RPZs to prevent the reduction of rental stock in cities.

Restrict AirBnB rentals so that only vacant rooms can be rented out, rather than the full property. There are many things that could be done if the political will was there.

Oh goody another tedious SF thread

What are FF or FG doing to stop people voting SF? Let's face it the only reason why SF are popular is due to the way FF and FG have behaved in government the last number if years. They have turned people against them and to SF because of the policies they have pursued. It is their own fault and have taken no steps to change that.

They are used on 'ordinary' people all the time in the EU.

There is no suggestion that they will be used on 'ordinary' people here, and there never has been since they were established.

Why not?

Or is it possible that they investigated implementing these (easy vote winners) and were told it was not practical/legal/ or was prohibitively expensive?

Uh...there's no such thing as 'land property tax' so not sure what you are interchanging with what tbh.

The tax I was referring to is known as local property tax here in Ireland, whereas similar tax provisions are described as land property taxes in other countries. We use the terms interchangeably, like corporate/corporation tax. I should have explained that in more detail, I sometimes forget that even the most basic concepts can fly over of the head of certain individuals.

I'd imagine it would be around the same amount who vote everytime without looking at or knowing policies.

Of course it's possible, but is it likely? No. It's interesting that you would classify such measures as "easy vote winners". Vote winners for whom? FG?

Why would supporters of the "landlord party" welcome measures that restrict the income of landlords? As noted by Varadkar's most recent freudian slip, "we need to balance that one person's rent is another person's income".

https://www.thejournal.ie/rent-dail-varadkar-o-broin-5554348-Sep2021/

They are worse

Gonna be honest, I'm not sure what other countries use.

My take on the SCC is that it's a convenient way for the State and Gardai to secure a conviction against someone they don't have sufficient evidence to convict in a normal court. Any court that takes testimony from a Garda as admissible evidence is dangerous. The Gardai have stumbled from one controversy to another over the past 5 years.

From a case earlier this year: "The non-jury court today found that Garda Assistant Commissioner Michael O'Sullivan, who gave evidence of his belief that Michael Connolly (47) was an IRA member, had made "an unqualified assertion" during the trial that none of the material he viewed that formed the basis of his belief was in the Book of Evidence against the accused man.

The Special Criminal Court described this assertion as "seriously incomplete and misleading"."

There's no reason why criminals and gangs can't be tried in the regular court system. People cite intimidation as a reason for retaining the court, but there was never any evidence of intimidation in the first place. Even in the 1980's Mary Robinson tried to abolish the court as there was no evidence that the court was maintaining impartiality and reports the Gardai were denying defendants due process. And then you have all the irregularities, like Slab Murphy being tried in the SCC for tax evasion...

Anyways, way off topic.

Exactly and with Labour imploding/splintering and loads of independents - and yahoo type parties like PBP. There is not likely to be a real credible third party that can take votes from the middle ground for decades.

The only good thing about Irish politics is that there is no real extreme right or left that gets the numbers, like many other European countries have. That would be disastrous. It is solid stable governance is what I would call it - nothing outlandish.

Wait until you find out how much the accountants earn... *shudders*

Who knows, but surely the government are ultimately the ones who should be responsible for sorting the health service, law and order, housing etc.

Not just to say it's too hard and shrug their shoulders, we've tried nothing and we're all out of ideas. If indeed it is up to the government then the blame for inaction lies squarely at FF/FG feet. Otherwise what exactly is the point of having a government If everyone else decides what does or doesn't happen?