Election to be called Fri - predict outcome

Roderic O'Gorman policy in action;

RTE news : 'Shocked' woman evicted after travel for husband's care

http://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2024/1111/1480227-liudmyla-shevchenko/

No wonder Harris wanted a short election cycle. FFG are getting mauled.

Everyone else is right in the sense that they don't have a record to be proud of.

A housing special was always going to be a flogging for the current government.

I did quite like Pascal's little dig about Sinn Fein trying to make it about how they simply care more.

Rory Hearn looks like the only one who knows what he is talking about

Eh, ffg have broken all their own rules on prudence, also, explain to me, why cutting income related taxes by several billion a year is reckless, when increasing spending by several billion a year, doesn't bat an eyelid. Laughably, I'd actually agree with sf on this, if there are billions of euro to play with, I'd prefer to see it allocated to income tax cuts and abolition of property tax... its that or wasted on one of the other endless black holes here, welfare being their current favourite...

SF are not proposing to ‘cut taxes’. They’re proposing to reduce taxes for one cohort of people (that already pay too little) and fund for it by increasing taxes on another cohort (that already pay too much).

Under SF previous budget a married single income household could face a marginal tax rate of 70% on income between €100 - €140k due to removal of tax credits. It’s lunatic stuff.

If you think SF would lower government spending on the big ticket items (health, welfare, housing)….lol.

It was a dig at the Green party front and foremost.

a single policy they are all committed to would surely defeat FF and FG.

While it would play well with young voter i.e. those stuck in the renting loop, there are other election issues e.g. childcare, health, education. It likely wouldn't sway my vote in the slightest (albeit, I will be voting for one of those you list anyway). Being realistic, at least one of FFG will be required to form a government (or an ungodly amount of independents).

O'Brien is no use, sooner he's gone the better from that dept.

Paschal was very poor. He seemed strangely distracted or tired. He only woke up in order to interrupt O'Broin.

Darragh was usual his usual arrogant and misleading self. He even took credit for Green policies. Yet again FF could not own their appalling Affordable Houses number (1000, promised 50k). They refuse to acknowledge it.

Rory Hearne spoke well and knew his stuff.

Lots of people are willing to live with the current housing crisis. The left (not that I consider SF left) banding together to develop a unified housing policy wouldn't achieve much. It appeals to people who will already vote for them. If people are unhappy with housing and its important enough to sway the persons vote, I don't see how they would be voting for FFG in the first place.

People who vote FFG can tolerate the current housing situation (possibly like it) and their priorities lie elsewhere whether that be health, education, decrease taxes, increased welfare etc.

Sinn Fein are trying to tell first time buyers that they don't deserve to own their own home outright, and that they must let the government own part of their house into perpetuity and restrict who they can sell to.

That will go down well.

Abolishing property tax and abolishing USC under €45k are completely reckless policies, depleting the tax base, it is always more difficult to introduce new taxes or reintroduce old taxes than to increase rates, so if there is money for tax reductions, reduce the rates but maintain the base.

However, as someone who is left of centre, I would much prefer to see surplus money invested for the community into public transport, student accommodation, schools, hospitals etc., where all the people see the benefit. Looks like the Greens are talking my language once again.

It wasn't so long ago that mass emigration resulted in ghost estates and waste of building. Developers, local authorities and the civil service are scarred by that memory. A recession here, thanks to US money going home, with Ukrainians going home could easily create the same scenario.

Better to spend the surplus on water and energy infrastructure, public transport, schools and hospitals etc.

Quite something to watch people complain about the HSE, which is incredibly well funded, so assumedly horribly inefficient if as bad as people claim, in the same post then push for public sector building to take over from private sector….cause the public sector will be super efficient at that no doubt!