Why did not one politician criticise the recklessness of this budget?

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Brendan Burgess

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  • Our tax take is inflated by unsustainably high receipts from US multinationals
  • There is potentially a real crisis due to Brexit
  • We already have €200 billion in national debt
  • We have accrued liabilities of €300 billion of public sector and social welfare pensions for which we have made no provision
  • Despite our economy doing well, at the moment we will be borrowing €1.4 billion extra next year
Yet
  • Despite already having some of the highest social welfare payments in the EU, we increase them further
  • Despite having the lowest tax rates on low and average earners, we take even more out of the tax net.
But what astonishes me is that not one of our elected politicians has the courage to articulate this publicly.

If there is a hard Brexit, we could be faced with serious cut backs. We should have those cut-backs now when the economy is flying, so we could increase spending when the economy slows down.
 
Brendan Burgess said:
  • Our tax take is inflated by unsustainably high receipts from US multinationals
Click to expand...
Makes a change from being unsustainably high due to the proceeds of property transactions.

Myopic fools.

Edit: I've sent Brendan's comment and a link to this thread to my local FG TD asking his opinion.
 
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Another increase in the OAP by €5 a week, showing that the govt have no regard for the pension crises that is looming. Probably because they know they will be well gone by the time the crises hits and can't be blamed.


Steven
http://www.bluewaterfp.ie (www.bluewaterfp.ie)
 
Cliff Taylor had a piece on the front of the Irish Times saying much the same thing, but I can't find it online.

Brendan
 
Good point by McWilliams:

In the boring world of economics, the most crucial macroeconomic idea is that the State helps the economy when it is slowing by spending money to bolster demand. In contrast, when the economy is motoring along, as it is now, the State's job should be to take money out of the economy, so that we avoid any bust that may be triggered by events over which we have no control.

McCreevy did the opposite - and so too did Michael Noonan.

...
What we do know is that recessions can come quite unexpectedly and if there is no room to cut interest rates, the State should expand its budget deficit when it needs to, not when it is expedient to do so - like now.
 
Im pretty sure we can blame fianna fail for the 5 euro pension increase. They know their voter base.
 
It's a problem with a minority government I'm afraid. FF wanted the pension increase, independent alliance wanted the drop in prescription fees and FG had already promised to drop USC. A minority government is pretty ineffective when it comes to budget time. FG might be in the driving seat but FF have one hand on the steering wheel and IA have a foot on the accelerator! Meanwhile SF are trying to remove the rear view mirror!
 

this budget walks , talks and acts like a FF budget , their finger prints are all over it , willie o dea was out of the blocks early over the summer iwth a demand for an increase in the state pension , no group suffered less during the recessin than pensioners yet pensioners have always been a key voter demographic for FF , sops to the property industry like with the first time buyers grand it more classic FF

my point is , due to the nature of this minority goverment , there was no option but to go ultra populist and also throw bones to traditional monied quarters

the state pension absolutely should not have been raised , not just because it was more than generous enough as it was but the current model is completely unsustainable and increasing the pension sends entirely the wrong message
 
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