Forming the next Irish Government - policies and personalities

What happens if you live in Newry but work in say Drogheda? Could end up paying a chunk of tax (in vat) and be an Irish citizen but not have a vote?

If it was me for presidential elections I'd have it so that anyone who has previously had a dail vote retains their presidential vote even if they move. This would avoid the likes of 2nd generation irish Americans having a vote unless they've actually lived here. I'd also extend the franchise to everyone in the North.

For Dail, is expand franchise to anyone living here, regardless of citizenship (so people who currently vote in locals only should be able to vote in Dail), and if introduce a number of seats to represent overseas irish (you would have had to have had a vote for dail before leaving Ireland). So it would be an extra constituency to represent the recently emigrated.

One off housing is just a terrible thing from a policy point of view. At least the Greens stood to try and curtail it. No surpirse that SF would not want to go down that road. They need/want all the populist votes they can get.

Well, electricity is much cleaner than oil for one. Did you ever have an oil boiler in the house? Wrecks the place after a while.

But you would not install a HP unless your house is quite well insulated.

You seem to not know much about these things?

don't think they shelved the patent court referendum because of those two votes, they've been long fingering it for years, they could have done it 10 years ago if they wanted to.

Was someone going to same a EU patent court was woke or going steal their children?

Its reported Harris just took away everything unnecessary https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2024/04/13/harris-scraps-difficult-proposals-for-focused-approach-to-childcare-farms-and-business/

I have no idea what SF's position is on this.

I dare say they have bigger fish to fry, same as FF FG Lab SD's PBP etc etc etc.

Of course it could and should have been done much sooner. Although there was no real incentive to do so until the court actually established itself in 2023 but we are were we are.

In January 2024, a date was set for the referendum. It was to be held on 7 June, the same day as the local and european elections.

On 6 March the relevant bill for the holding of the referendum was making its way through the Oireachtas.

On 8 March the two votes are held and defeated.

You've linked an article referring to Harris scrapping difficult proposals. The referendum on the patent court is only seen as difficult in the context of the results of the March referenda. Harris only became Taoiseach as a result of the political upheaval in their aftermath. The responsible Minister for the referendum also changed during this reshuffle. The realpolitik is that Harris didn't want to risk a "no" vote on the same day as he was hoping to (and did) get people to vote for his party.

As early as March 12 government sources were linking the patents referendum to the two defeated votes.

https://www.rte.ie/news/politics/2024/0312/1437441-patent-referendum/

https://www.ft.com/content/9cd68f25-5ae7-43d9-8d35-da7926458451

https://www.thejournal.ie/patent-court-referendum-6352133-Apr2024/

From the journal article

It is understood the rationale behind the memo being brought to Cabinet next week is there are fears about putting it before a volatile electorate, in light of the the family and care referendums being voted down recently by the public. 

The government believes it is an important referendum that will help business and must pass, but it is “risky” to run the referendum in the short-term. 

I think it is quite clear that it was shelved due to the outcome of the two votes in March.

I am more interested in whether it will be progressed though, and am keen to see it progressed. There is no mention of the UPC or a referendum in the draft PfG.

You expressed uninformed opinions about EV's that were not true.

You still hold those opinions even after I have tried to enlighten you. Not my issue if you want to remain ignorant of the present day EV market.

When I bought my house there was an oil boiler in it. To upgrade it to a heat pump would cost €15k, although there is a 6.5k grant to be fair. I also need a technical assessment done to ensure my house is suitable, a grant of €200 is available to that, which would make you wonder how much they cost

However without spending money on insulation, there's not much point in any of it

So again I ask… Where's the incentive?

That's auful, question for you though, of the 1.8m homes in our fine country how many of them are one-off housing? In fairness we have a housing crisis so I'm assuming the planning authorities are taking that into account

€31780 < €33660
Its a fact that the VW ID3 is cheaper than the VW Gold. Base trim for both. Not sure what your point is.

I couldn't afford a brand new car that I wanted anyway, either diesel or electric, nothing has changed for me since either. But that's my story, like many others in the same boat.

So, the fact you cant afford any new car is a moot point at this stage.

(be it ignorance or not) was a policy of higher taxation and price gouging to try and enforce something on us that the country isn't ready for. Mine and others ignorance has apparently lost the Greens 11 seats and any credibility in irish politics it seems.

The Greens were the mudguard of this election. But what you will notice, the likes of the Healy Raes are going to continue the same policies. e.g. Carbon Taxes, Green Targets, Emissions..etc.. What does that tell you?

I grant you all that but I still think the problem with the patent court referendum is not the previous 2 referendums, its the patent court referendum, its boring, they could do it along side the presidential election, maybe just havnt agreed it yet.

The grants are pitiful. We're mid-terraced with an extension out the back, got our walls pumped last summer but because it's technically only 1.5 walls we needed done the grant was a big fat zero

Admittedly the house is much warmer and the tank of oil is noticeably higher than it was this time last year so I don't regret doing it. It actually gives me what you refer above

Again financially speaking aren't heat pumps much more expensive on electricity than oil or gas to heat the house?

My point is what it was all along, one is loaded with a very high rate of vrt, while the other gets a vrt rebate of at least €3500 to make it affordable in a like for like situation.

So basically tax and price gouging.

And I forgot to add last night, I've 22 acres of forestry, my bit for the environment, mature enough to harvest this year. I'll have my new car in 2026.

It is interesting to look around Europe at some of the numbers. From a quick Wiki search I found the following:

19 in Malta

15 in Latvia

25 in Denmark

19 in Finland

24 in Sweden

By those numbers, it looks at first glance that we are short in terms of Ministers and it might be time to revisit the Constitution in that regard.

The new CC making a right mess of the Speaking Rights issue.
Surely if your legal advice was competent and comprehensive you would be able to rule out any other legal challenge to it.

Seems not, after a meeting with the Business committee she has to review the contrary legal advice obtained by the opposition. Her decision based on legal advice and precedence (just because something has precedence doesn't make it right) has now been rowed back on and is only a temporary measure.
A bit of a shambles and a self inflicted bad start for the coalition.

There is a discussion to be had on the issue. There are questions around effective size of cabinet, with the problems you mention of decisions made elsewhere becoming a vital point, but there are also discussions around span of control for Ministers, and the workload of that.