Election 2007

DaveMcG wrote:

Anybody able to tell me who brought in the following policies....

- Free tuition fees for 3rd-level education
- Low corporation tax

Which governments brought in these and what ministers?

Cheers! I shalln't be voting on this basis but it's interesting none the less!

Both of these were brought in under the Fine Gael/Labour coalition.

FlutterinBantam wrote:

Havn't decided yet ,but it won't be SF. Those hoors would bankrupt the country.

Sure aren't already we heading in that direction already Our labour market is overpriced. Jobs are flying abroad. We have one of the worst health services in the world but we spend hundreds of millions on a motorway the tax payer already paid for. We paid hundreds of millions on a health pay system that doesn't work. The list goes on and on, the government loves wasting money we don't have on stuff we don't need.

partholon wrote:

heres hoping this poll last's longer than the last one. that got filleted and wiped the minute it got moved to politics.

Yeah, SF were ahead in the poll, somebody didn't like what they were seeing so they wiped it

brianthebard wrote:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Ireland_corporation_tax#Se.C3.A1n_Lemass_and_after

MaCreevy apparently.

Just goes to show, you can't believe everything you read on Wikipedia.

I was researching corporate strategy stuff 2 weeks ago and found out that history had been rewritten to favour the US car manufacturers. Did you realise that JIT and TQM were actually invented by US firms?!? :eek:

irsp or sf or ff, dont really know theyre all the same these days

ballooba wrote:

The economy took off long before Charlie McCreevy was in Office.

The following links credit our low tax regime to the 1954 vernment of Fine Gael, Labour and Clann Na Talmhan. This government introduced a zero per cent rate which was changed to 10 percent by Fianna Fail in 1980.
http://www.kpmg.ie/inv_irl/why/low_rates.htm
http://www.itworld.com/Man/2681/060117irishtax/
http://www.heritage.org/Research/WorldwideFreedom/bg1945.cfm

McCreevy actually increased it from 10 per cent to 12.5 per cent in 1997 under pressure from the EU. This rate became effective in 2003.

McCreevy increased it under EU pressure as you say. They expected somewhere between 20 - 30%. I think it was 34/36% for the majority of companies at that stage. 10% was for manufacturing and if I remember correctly, though I could be wrong, 0% for the IFSC. The reason they picked 12.50% was not to increase the burden so much on multi-nationals that they would end up leaving. Most of the multi-nationals stayed so he was proven right on the rate.

Not sure who brought it in, though I think it could have been McCreevy. They phased it from 36 to 12.5% over 5 or 6 years so if it was brought in in 2003 probably started in 97 or 98. Even if it was FG, McCreevy definitely had no problem with it and enacted it.

The economic revival can be traced to Ray McSharry and the Haughey Govt. of 1987. Thats when the cutbacks and tax reductions (personal) that where necessary to kickstart the economy started. It's not really fair to go back to 1954 as plenty of parties where in power up to 1987 to correct the mess that the country was then. Of the last 20 years FF have been in power for about 18 of those. FG had 2 years and they where not an elected govt. FF are equally to blame for the successes as well as the failures of the last 20 years.

Of course Global advantages affected Ireland in the last 20 years. Then Europe was in a minor recession for most of the 90's but Ireland wasn't. We where playing catch up on Europe. The Govt. of the day has to get some credit from changing a near bankrupt country in the 80's to where it is now.

The economy will be ok in FF or FG hands. Nobody will rock the boat now if they can help it. It's the Health system and general social inequality that is the problem now. For all the criticism McCreevy and McSharry got at the time they got the Economy right. Maybe it needs a right wing character in Health to sort it out. I thought Harney (though I don't agree with her or wouldn't vote for her) would have done it with Health but it looks like she can't.

People are starting to see through SF's policies and I think the Greens will be the protest vote in this election. Seats are going to count at the end. FG/Lab/Greens have to gain 26/27 seats, about 50% from the last election whereas FF can probably afford to lose 10/11 and go into coalition with Greens/Labour.