Brendan Burgess
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Cormac Lucey has a good article in The Times today
Spare a thought for those who always pay
It makes a few points which are not often made in the Irish media
The argument that endless increases in state funding can fix big problems has been tested to destruction in the health area. According to Eurostat, the European statistics agency, Ireland spent €4,147 on health in 2014 for every man, woman and child in the state. That was 16 per cent more than the French spent, 20 per cent more than the British and 73 per cent more than the Italians. Yet public discontent with our health services seems higher than ever. Mr Varadkar is right: it is wrong to assume that spending increases always result in better services.
And, he asks who stands up for the Irish taxpayer.
Government receipts from income taxes are set to exceed 2007 levels this year by 49 per cent, or €6.6 billion. That’s about an extra €3,000 more being paid on average by each of the state’s income tax payers compared with a decade ago, but who talks about tax restoration? And who in Irish politics stands up clearly for Irish taxpayer interests?
Spare a thought for those who always pay
It makes a few points which are not often made in the Irish media
- Ireland has the highest rate of over-qualification - reducing college fees might not be a good idea
- Reducing class sizes would be good for the teachers but would have no effect on the children
- Increasing the wages of those providing child care would be good for the employees but not improve the amount or quality of childcare provided.
The argument that endless increases in state funding can fix big problems has been tested to destruction in the health area. According to Eurostat, the European statistics agency, Ireland spent €4,147 on health in 2014 for every man, woman and child in the state. That was 16 per cent more than the French spent, 20 per cent more than the British and 73 per cent more than the Italians. Yet public discontent with our health services seems higher than ever. Mr Varadkar is right: it is wrong to assume that spending increases always result in better services.
And, he asks who stands up for the Irish taxpayer.
Government receipts from income taxes are set to exceed 2007 levels this year by 49 per cent, or €6.6 billion. That’s about an extra €3,000 more being paid on average by each of the state’s income tax payers compared with a decade ago, but who talks about tax restoration? And who in Irish politics stands up clearly for Irish taxpayer interests?