MICHAEL HEALY-RAE has said that although there are many things he disagrees with Donald Trump about, he admires the US President’s approach to deregulation.
The Independent TD for Kerry told RTÉ’s Marian Finucane Show that there is far too much regulation in the country, and that Trump’s proposed regulation to free-up businesses to operate more freely is something Ireland should look at.
According to Healy-Rae, Trump’s suggestion that any lawmaker looking to implement a new law, must first get rid of two others “shows the intelligence of the man”.
“We think we can cut regulations by 75%, maybe more,” Trump said in a White House meeting with business leaders in January.
Healy-Rae acknowledged that you need regulations for health and safety reasons, but said that it had gone far beyond that here, saying “Ireland is overrun with over-regulation”.
He recalled one business that put three stools outside for people to sit outside on. He said an inspector came along and said they couldn’t be there, so they were removed.
But old people started asking what happened to the stools, so they brought them out again.
There was another unannounced inspection and they were told they’d be issued a fine of €3,000 if they were caught again. And I know those officers are just doing their job, but I think it’s just stupidity.
He qualified his comments by saying that there were a lot of problems he had with Trump’s views too, saying that he’d be “very critical” of his policy to divide subsections of society and treat them differently.
The Art of the Deal
He recalled a moment where his mother told him there was a book he should read, and handed him The Art of the Deal by Donald Trump.
Healy-Rae read the book, and when he discussed the book with his mother, he says she told him “You’re young now, but you watch him. He could end up running the world.”
He joked that she didn’t say “ruining the world” – in case people thought he had heard wrong.
“You have to admire what he achieved at 40 years of age,” he said, which was the age Trump was when the book was published.
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