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59 people dead following nightclub fire in North Macedonia
Five children among 53 people reported dead after Trump orders air strikes on Yemen
Quiz: Can you spot which of these 'Irish' sayings are real and which are completely made-up?
Eamon Gilmore Sam Boal/Photocall Ireland
Emigration
Tánaiste: Taxation is not the reason for emigration 'brain drain'
Eamon Gilmore was responding to comments by Leo Varadkar that it is not normal for people in other countries on “pretty modest incomes” to hit the highest rate of tax.
TÁNAISTE EAMON GILMORE has rejected claims that Ireland’s tax regime is the reason for the so-called ‘brain drain’ where people with third-level qualifications are leaving the country for better jobs.
Speaking in Dublin this morning, Gilmore said that a distinction needed to be drawn between people who leave Ireland for work purposes and those who leave because they can’t find a job.
A study by UCC last week found that almost half of people leaving country had jobs when they emigrated, a finding that surprised many.
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The Tánaiste accepted there are cases where people are leaving for a better job: “I mean this is part of the world in which we live in, people do move around from country-to-country for job purposes.
“The people I am really concerned with are people who leave the country for work purposes, because they can’t get work here and that’s why our focus is the creation of jobs here.”
He rejected claims from one Fine Gael minister over the weekend that Ireland’s income tax rates as well as other tax measures such as Universal Social Charge are the reason for the so-called ‘brain drain’.
Transport Minister Leo Varadkar suggested in an interview published in the Irish Independent this morning that third-level educated workers are leaving Ireland for countries with “higher pay and lower taxes”.
Quoted on Newstalk, Varadkar said people on “pretty modest incomes” of around €35,000 hit the highest rate of tax – 52 per cent – which is “not normal in most countries”.
But Gilmore said: “Taxation isn’t the issue in relation to emigration. I think the issue in relation to emigration is much, in my view, more about the availability of work here rather than the issue of taxation.”
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The Carnival is like a photographers dream, the place is absolutely awash with colour. Rio always gets the plaudits but the carnivals in Salvador, Bahia and Florinapolis are just as big and colourful.
The organisers of our St.Patrick’s Day parades would do well to take a look at it and take inspiration. Watching tacky floats with advertisements for butchers and book shops doesn’t hold a match to how they do a parade in Brazil. I’ve nothing against local businesses, I just want to see a good show.
True, but it doesn’t rain in Brazil like it does here. Imagine all that South American finery soaked in cold rain. The colours wouldn’t look so bright on a grey Irish day or a dark misty Irish night. I think we do very well considering our climate.
59 people dead following nightclub fire in North Macedonia
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Yemen
Five children among 53 people reported dead after Trump orders air strikes on Yemen
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St Patrick's Day
Quiz: Can you spot which of these 'Irish' sayings are real and which are completely made-up?
23 hrs ago
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