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Everyone’s talking about…
The government’s Spring Economic Statement has been criticised by the opposition and several commentators as a stunt and no more than an opening salvo in the general election campaign.
Many have questioned the need to disrupt Dáil business for three days to discuss facts that have largely been known for some time. (The statement will be debated again today and tomorrow.)
Fianna Fáil’s Spokesperson on Public Expenditure and Reform Seán Fleming described the statement as “an extraordinary piece of electioneering” and an opportunity for ministers to “congratulate other ministers and tell the public how great the ministers are doing”.
Sinn Féin’s finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty said the statement was a “set piece”, while his colleague Mary Lou McDonald said it was “grandiose claims that have amounted to nothing”.
Meanwhile, Clare Daly felt a new emotion:
Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin has staunchly defended the statement. Speaking on Morning Ireland, he said he was “amazed” the opposition have been so critical, saying the document gave the transparency they had been calling for.
Howlin added that the opposition TDs’ remarks were “an amazing spectacle”.
He said the statement sets out the “parameters on which the budget will be built in six month’s time”.
Despite the dismissals, there’s an incredible amount of real meat in [the Spring Statement], for those who want to go through it.
Howlin said he wouldn’t go into budgetary details, but noted the government is looking into restoring some of the payments that have been cut in recent years.
“We didn’t cut anything because we wanted to, we cut because we had to,” he stated.
The agenda
What the others are saying
Inside Leinster House
As Ministers Noonan and Howlin outlined the Spring Statement, no one seemed to want to be in the chamber.
The opposition looked unimpressed…
… as did the men of the hour:
In case you missed it
On the Twitter machine
The Siteserv controversy rumbles on…
Originally published: 9am
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I am still waiting to see the Government prosecute anyone that caused this Country to crash and yet the people are being taxed to the hilt and people are still losing there homes and these people think they are doing a good job they are living in there own little commune sad
Yeah the Sean Fitzpatrick case is coming up and we already had an Anglo case.
I don’t know if anyone has been before the kangaroo court system employed by SF
hello baz
“I am still waiting to see the Government prosecute anyone that caused this Country to crash ”
They’d have to prosecute hundreds of thousands of people.
Baz me aul flower we all know nothing will come of any court case involving Sean Fitzpatrick or any other bankers, it’s all for show. Did any politician, banker or property developer lose a pension a home or even the Merc in the driveway
full of real meat for the dennis o briens of this world afraid its quorn for the rest of us
Horsemeat
Real meat if you are a real meat head!
Baz
You have two followers, YFG and Alan Kelly , you sound very like them, the sound of squealing rats, coming from a sinking ship. It’s ironic the way water comes into play in your demise.
Sorry Brendan, that’s not “real meat” it’s gone-off Tofu.
I’m amazed people criticised the spring statement, the electorate are more aware than is desirable’
It was more of a sting statement, A desperate attempt to get re elected and continue with TTIP.
I cant believe that no one can see the long term strategy at work here.
They know there going to be hounded on the promises and lies they perpetrated over the last four years…So what do you do then??
Well you make a promise before the next budget and then you stick to it in order to fool most of the electorate into thinking you had no other choice in the past years. I mean really..cop on people. Its no accident that the EU gave us special dispensation in the budget for THIS YEAR ONLY!!!!!!!!!!! They need FG/LAB back in power to continue the payment of the so called bailout!
Problem is most people will buy into to this strategy….Then it will be to late and Denis will own everything
Wake up!!!
We have heard enough untruths from the man with the Napoleon complex.
The once proud Labour party has been destroyed by these ego maniacs in per suit of their own crocks of gold.
Does that mean SF, who are also making more or less the same promises, are desperate to get elected?
Crist sake Emmet! Put the heart across me. Will ya stop shouting…I’m still in recession!
Con Man
Your still in regression.
Ger Deva. I see what you did there. You used a word that you don’t know the meaning of to facilitate an unfunny premise. Keep trying tho’
Con Man
Try retrogressive, you failed to see it.
Keep going you’re nearly there. Retrogressive is better. Still not funny though. It’s hard to come back from using a total incorrect phrase because you think it means something else. You just begin to look like a bigger idiot everytime you try. Try again gerry. I might laugh eventually.
Con Man
You are one of the few here that did not get it !
Its not my fault your a bit slow.
You used regression which does not and never has meant the same as retrogressive. You are caught out in your ignorance and are backpeddaling like a fvcker now. For all my slowness I’m light years ahead of you, gerry boy! Ha ha!
Blatant electioneering, don’t fall for more lies from this bunch of clowns.
Because we’re not fool’s anymore
Ah minister howlin. When asked about siteserv. He did not know what the assertions even where. Since its being in the media and questions being asked in the dail since last week. His response was pathetic. As a minister of this government being paid handsomely by taxpayers. He should know. He then waffled on about this and that and then near the end asked a question about care grants. He couldn’t speculate on the next budget because he didn’t know what the economic situation would be in 2016/17 . so with no idea the economic situation next year will be. They have decided to give themselves a payrise anyway.
I thought there was a haddington deal which deal with public pay and cuts, which could not be touch until june 2016. Am I missing something. ?
You are Dennis. The government have decided they need a payrise. Because its so hard living on thousands every week before expenses.
I’m surprised the opposition have brought this up.. oh hand on they’re set to get a pay rise too. turkeys and Christmas or something like that.
Talks normally begin a year earlier and are scheduled to start next month.
but there talking about issuing a public pay rise by summer not next year.
I think they may reduce US ntil and/or pension levy.
*USC
Enda: “Let’s park talking about Siteserv lads and just tell everyone what they already know for 3 days until it blows over”
Lads: ye let’s do that.
deffo keeps rte busy, the lost decade is over according to the indo and gardai are being threatened by water protestors according to daily mail headline. what a shit media we have in this country
Brendan
At long last reality is dawning on you With all the cuts Labour approved against the low paid you are not poplar .
The OECD an independent body confirmed that the last budget (the FAIR budget) benefited the top earners in this country with the lowest paid being hit the hardest, this Gov has been spinning none stop since it got into power and their latest stunt is further proof that they are compulsive liars and have done more harm and made this recession last longer for the majority of citizens, however surprise, surprise those at the top are doing just fine!
The gap between the rich and poor got bigger during the recession. The more money you have the more you can afford to avoid it.
The top 10% of workers pay 60% of all income tax collected. 37% of workers pay no income tax. We have one of the most progressive taxation systems in Europe. Can we do better, sure, but these are hard facts which should be acknowledged in any debate on taxation.
go away diarmuid your facts are full of crap like most you’re post. why not mention all the tax avoidance and evasion that goes on by the top earners. you were only missing a SF comment from that one to make it perfect.
Facts are from the Irish Taxation Institute and Revenue. Tax evasion impacts all income categories and should obviously be stamped out. Separate issue. Abusing a commenter because you can’t handle debate is a tad pathetic, Denis.
facts are fact diarmud but you forgot to mention that someone on 60k is considered in the top 10% earners. 60k ? So these so called top earners at 60K are paying the same tax at the 1% who earn 90% of the money and the 1%probably pay less as they can afford to avoid the tax. Facts are facts but you don’t tell the whole story. and what about the higher tax bracket coming in at below the average industrial wage. Progressive eh? you select which facts you want to post to make your post more believable.
Diarmuid is correct in his facts.
I don’t really see where the scope is to make the system more progressive than that. Up to €18k, you essentially pay no direct taxes. Once you arrive at €35k your tax liability explodes.
” why not mention all the tax avoidance and evasion that goes on by the top earners”
It’s not just top earners, self-employed, people doing nixers, etc. etc.
There is not some magical figure below which one is an ethical saintly, pay-all-my-taxes do-gooder and above which one decides the rules don’t apply. A lot of people, at ALL levels of income/wealth try to avoid or evade taxes wherever they can.
I didn’t say he wasn’t correct with his fact but those facts are not telling the whole story. we have redefined the middle class to working poor, who now bear the brunt of tax’s collected in Ireland. the USC is a progressive tax system.. it maybe unliked but it is progressive. income tax with it’s 2 bands is not progressive at all.
and as for avoidance of tax. nixers are hardly going to make much of a dent when you have the likes of my names sake paying nothing. or apple, google, and microsoft on less than 2% corporation tax.
Denis, if you think that middle income levels carry the largest tax burden then you are right. The threshold for the higher tax band is ridiculously low.
The top 1% of earners pay 21% of income tax collected. Want to raise that amount? Fair enough, but their capital unfortunately tends to be very moveable and there is a risk of driving it from our shores the tighter we turn the screw. It’s also a tiny population base to tax.
There are 103k workers (out of roughly 2 million workers) earning €100k+ in this country. Hitting them hard with a higher tax bracket would not yield huge additional sums of income tax in the overall scheme of things. It would feel good, but not impact hugely on our income tax collections.
not middle income . working poor. they loose 40% of their wages. And all this hype about their money will flight if we try and tax them more is pure poppycock. Ireland is a great little country to do buissniess, hit the high earners and force company’s to pay the proper amount of tax, I doubt that even if apple was paying 12.5% tax that they would up and leave.
In 2012 the effective tax rate of someone on 100k+ was 22% my pay packet last month saw me take home 40% less than I earned. so progressive that. !!
I’ll stick by me original comment. during the recession the rich got richer and the poor or middle class got poorer. although you want to defend this. just like you defend IW
High earners still account for a small population base, hitting them hard would not yield huge new sums of income tax.
The capital flight risk argument can be very disingenuous at times, but it shouldn’t be discounted, look at the French millionaire’s tax and the effect it has has.
The corporate tax argument is a minefield. Even if we could adequately enforce a strict 12.5% effective rate, would we want to do it? The multinational sector will scatter to the winds if we start hurting their bottom lines in any significant way.
well we’ve done things like this since the conception of the state and it seems to have worked out well for us hasn’t it. no need to fix what ain’t broke i suppose.
tell yourself something often enough diarmuid and you’ll start to believe it eventually end up being scared of change or upsetting the apple cart.. good man . I suppose the bank guarantee was good for us, or not burning the bond holders. or bailing out AIB. all good for us as we were told that on so many occasions. justify s the actions be they right or wrong, which were found out to be wrong in this case.
What was the aIternative Denis? Genuine question.
reform
Ease up on the insults Denis…
Someone on €100k pays a marginal rate of 52-53%, not 22%.
Progressive means the more you earn, the higher your tax burden becomes. The OECD views Ireland as having one of the most progressive and redistributive tax systems in the world, based largely on a narrow income tax base.
I agree with you that the top tax band threshold should be pushed far higher. How to pay for this in any real way? Broaden the tax base…
Reform what?
I asked you what was the alternative to this:
“I suppose the bank guarantee was good for us”
what insults. ??
A worker on 18k pays less than 5% tax and USC.
In the UK it’s 10%.
In Germany 1t’s 27%.
Over 60k and we are only behind Sweden as paying the most tax.
Above 150k – it’s 45%.
Patlyndo a recent report showed the bank guarantee to be damming to us. the EU recently came out and said that we should have burnt unsecured bond holders. and there are numerous reports on AIB and how it should have been left to the wall like any bankrupt company should be. I suppose hindsight is a great thing, but you asked what we should have done. so there you have it. We were also promised reform. I have yet to see any reform or any thing put in place to stop the crash happening again. sure aren’t we all taking up property again
Dairmuid not sure where you’r quoting your facts from . but I’m getting this from a report that ronan lyons . he’s another quote from it . the more you earn they less tax you pay it seems. why is that.. why are these 0.5% paying 27.5% when I’m paying 40% it’s not like they can’t afford it.
Ireland’s top 0.5% of earners, the 11,714 people who earned more than €275,000 in a year, paid almost 18% of all income tax, over €2bn in total. Their average tax rate was 27.5%.
Denis, workers resident in Ireland pay more income tax, the more income they earn. If you’re talking about different tax residency rules, other forms of tax, or some of the few loopholes in existence then you might want to call them out.
0.5% of workers paying 18% of income tax is still progressive and not to be sniffed at.
just one thing Patlyndo
In the UK it’s 10%.
In Germany 1t’s 27%.
sweeden
have you seen the services they get for paying that much tax. ?
Denis, you still haven’t put forward any alternative (agree with you on Anglo).
Denis – maybe we’d get the same services if we paid the same tax?
dairmud there you go again with selecting facts. yes 0.5% paying 18% of income tax sounds great. but add in that that amounts to an average tax burden of 27.5% when most middle income workers are on 40% .. can you see the difference. why are they not paying 40%?
You still haven’t explained how you arrived at 27.5%…
maybe we’d get the same services if we paid the same tax?
LOL patlyndo.. maybe. LOL,, ya think? seriously.
Of course i’ve put forward alternatives. there is still time to burn bond holders. we can create a more progressive tax system based on the 4 tier tax structure of USC . we can make corporations pay the proper amount of tax for this country. come on apple with a bank balance of a small country and we let them pay less than 2% .
and reform . reform. reform. make banks accountable. make the financial regulator accountable. make politicians accountable.
Tell me what has changed since the crash.. name something that has changed to benefit the whole of society and not those just at the top, even the last budget was given unfair by the where low pay’d were hit harder than the rich.
picking the low hanging fruit that’s what been achieved
“maybe we’d get the same services if we paid the same tax?LOL patlyndo.. maybe. LOL,, ya think? seriously.”
Eh, “do you have a magic ball to see alternative paths.?”
“Of course i’ve put forward alternatives. there is still time to burn bond holders. we can create a more progressive tax system based on the 4 tier tax structure of USC . we can make corporations pay the proper amount of tax for this country. come on apple with a bank balance of a small country and we let them pay less than 2% .”
No, you haven’t. I asked you instead of the BG on the 29th/30th September 2008, what was the alternative? By the way – SF supported the Guarentee – so to suggest that they could do better after they supported FF is simply untrue.
I don’t need a magic ball I just look to how this state has been run and how many promises are broken and how we are lied to knowing full well that nothing will ever change and the same people will continue to be bribed by auction elections. only have to look to the spring statement to see that.
The simple answer to the BG is that what should have failed should have been left to fail. That’s what’s supposed to happen in this society. short sharp pain, lessons learnt, move on quickly and rebuild and hope not to repeat. instead we just gave the banks a free run to continue on as normal, and slaved our kids kids for the next few generations and gave us a huge unsustainable debt which we can never hope to pay of. generating upwards of 8bn a year in interest payments alone. .. Just waiting for the next crash as nothing has changed.
But Search Eagle needed one despite providing his reasons as to why a SF gov would have ruined us?
Do you mean the banks should have been let fail?
So burn the bondholders from the start?
Do you know what this “short sharp pain” entailed, how short? How sharp?
So after we do all this – then we still need to borrow – you think 8 billion in interest payments is a lot?
Defaulters pay more, much, much more.
Diarmuid and Search Eagle the same person ?
One hand praises the other FG Troll !!!
Here we go – An Ciarraioch trying to deflect, where is your other account? We’re jammin will be along soon..
@An Ciarraioch
I don’t normally give any credence to these sorts of posts, but I need to make one thing clear.
I have no real time for FG. Another spineless center/center-left party of cretins. It’s thoroughly depressing to think that of the mainstream parties, they represent the best of a bad bunch. My biggest gripe, specifically, with FG and Labour has been the lack of significant reform of our political system and their cowardly refusal to engage with significant issues. Whether it’s the refusal to deal with abortion comprehensively, the constitutional convention lying in tatters, the power grab with the Senate bill, the deliberately-designed-to-fail Dublin mayor bill, there are tons of examples of them if not passively ignoring the opportunity for reform, actively sabotaging it. That’s the biggest disappointment of the government, they’ve completely wasted a crisis, and we’re coming up with the same structures in place, setting the scene for it to happen all over again.
Also, while I give them some credit for pulling us back from the mire, I don’t personally believe they’re serious about keeping the finances under control. But if FG/Labour are planning to shake a few greedy coins from the piggy-bank, SF/IRA and the socialists are going to smash it open with a hammer.When asked to explain how their position can realistically be implemented, they cannot. I have very little time for politicians who promise the impossible, knowing full well that when the impossible isn’t delivered, those that suffer the most will be the poorest.
Jesus, either Howlin is utterly out of touch, or he’s a compulsive liar. Neither option is preferable. He, like the rest of them, needs to go.
Ah Minister – Enda’s Little Rottweiler – you were happy to do all of Enda’s dirty work for him. So it really doesn’t matter what promises you make, the Labour Party will take a kicking come the general election.
I hope the good people of Wexford have the sense to vote you out.
Our Labour TD, Derek Nolan has,as they say, two chances of being re-elected: fat and slim!
Brendan, stop howlin over the ‘real’ meat……we know it’s tofu.
Ráiméis more like
Keep us struggling for the last few years, taking every cent they could in taxes and charges and adding more all the time, why, so they can be seen doing something coming up to the elections. No beter than any other political party, looking after #1. Noonan going on how much the tax payer will be getting back from the banks, not s penny i can bet, more bull5hit. And the bit of light in the tunnel brings out the public sector unions because they want it before its spent on useful infrastructure. There is no foresight in our government they never look beyond the next election.
Of course, the public sector unions will be the first to benefit, along with all the other special interest groups. Unfortunately, nearly all the opposition parties have promised the same, but worse.
Bye bye labour and Fine Gael in next election and take your spring statement with you. I now find they are not only the most savage government with their savage cuts and pro banking veto legislation but they are anti social aswell taking offence about critics and the spring statement.
Maybe that explains the non existent social economic policy choices they made which makes them unfit for office. Hence do not vote them back in.
“I now find they are not only the most savage government with their savage cuts”
What would you have done instead?
I would have not paid 5 million euros to bond holders of a busted bank called IRBC renamed by Mr greedy Noonan. I would have adopted a fair social economic policy and as noonan done he capped the interest rate credit unions can charge but will not do this for variable interest mortgage holders.
Since taking office baked beans, bread and chips have gone through the roof with demand for these products. I would not have smashed up community policy, attacked single parents, the old, the sick , the disabled. But as this government has stated we paid the bond holders while we crucified the Irish nation middle and lower incomes.
I would have done the opposite to what they done. Now we have 900 people on trolleys a legacy of this government.
So ill informed. Sad really, but indicitive of the narrative that is going on…………….
Howlin is a goon. Trying to buy popularity for the next election.
Times almost up for FG/LAB.. THE SERVANTS OF ELITISM EUROPE. You will feel the WRATH of a wiser electorate. Fool me once, shame on me…..
This government is living in cloud cuckoo land!!!!!!!!!!
Pure ceac bó..done listening to this.heard it all b4
Real meat?
The only real meat you and your crew will be getting come election time is 9 inches of pure clonakilty white !
ok, i’m a firm believer in positivity. i think that giving off an air of positivity rubs off on people around you. HOWEVER……it’s obvious to my 3 year old that this is an election stunt…..a vote buyer….etc, etc.
What worries me most are the people that fall for this BS and believe everything they hear.
Ok, so the economy is improving, but to be fair, a class of transition year students in 2011 could have brought this country back from the brink as we couldn’t have sunk much lower.
Why arent the government mentioning the €120+ billion that we and our future generations still owe?
Until all of that debt is gone, we are not a recovering economy, no matter how many millions is spent on spin to try to make us think otherwise.
“Until all of that debt is gone, we are not a recovering economy, no matter how many millions is spent on spin to try to make us think otherwise.”
That’s completely untrue. As long as our economy as growing and we can cover our interest payments, we’ll eventually inflate the debt away. But where I would agree is that the debt is far too high. Sadly that’s the result of the borrowing that both this government and the previous government engaged in, when a narrow transaction-tax dependent tax base collapsed, and they didn’t want to make large cuts to social welfare et al.
The alternative to taking on that debt was huge cuts to social welfare and public spending, something which I’m sure is unpalatable to most.
“Ok, so the economy is improving, but to be fair, a class of transition year students in 2011 could have brought this country back from the brink as we couldn’t have sunk much lower.”
You really think so? Just look at what the other parties were proposing to do at the time. We’d be in utter ruins if SF/IRA or the socialists had gotten their way.
how do you know we would have been in utter ruin if SF or socialites had gotten into power. you have a magic ball to see alternative paths.
Who is S/F/IRA
“how do you know we would have been in utter ruin if SF or socialites had gotten into power”
Because the policies they were (and are) espousing are ruinous, particularly at a time when we had zilch. They wanted us to walk away from our debts, pull out of the IMF deal and somehow reverse all the cuts and tax increases. The economy would have absolutely tanked and the people who suffer most would’ve been the poorest.
Though, perhaps, as we have seen with Greece, if they had tried that gung-ho approach maybe they would’ve pulled back and been forced to accept reality. So perhaps you are right and we would’ve gotten some variation on the IMF plan *anyway*.
But I don’t accept that their plans, as outlined would’ve yielded better results than what FG/Labour implemented. We would have been left with a multi-billion euro hole, broken banks and no lenders left to turn to. To me, that implies – in the absence of finding some magical source of wealth – we would’ve required austerity on a level which most people can’t even begin to imagine. Though the extreme left has regularly lied to us about the vast oil reserves we have as well.
It’s not the just idle speculation, it’s not like we don’t have real world examples of what happens when countries refuse to pay their debts or find themselves locked out of the markets.
Indeed, the magic ball is right beside SF’s money tree………..
Of course he’s amazed. the lot of them haven’t a clue what’s going on. they ignore the people who put them there, living in cloud cookcoo land . That spring statement was more like a weather forecast, the lot of them in there patting themselves on the back. hey were great, the people are going to love us.. ehh. !!! NO WE’RE NOT.
There’s more meat on me findus crispy pancakes that the spring statement… Horse meat, but it’s still meat!
They have a bank tribunal on at the moment and not one of them will see the inside of a normal court let alone spend one night in jail for robbing the Irish Nation!
The economy is recovering ??? . I am still paying all the same taxes and the same bills put on my head by this incompetent Government. I am living in rural Ireland and we have lost our local Garda Station, Library, Bank and a lot of other services taken from us with a nod from this Government. The sooner we have an election and get rid of them the better for this country and its citizens. We are fed up of the spin, spin, spin.
“I am living in rural Ireland and we have lost our local Garda Station, Library, Bank and a lot of other services taken from us with a nod from this Government.”
Maybe the money simply wasn’t there to pay for them. In particular, libraries have been under intense pressure from the internet and other resources in general, though I’ve noticed many are reinventing themselves as civic spaces which is good to see.
So what was the household charge for? What was property tax for?.
To reduce the deficit.
Buts that not what they said it was for remember.They said it was for the up keep of parks,street lighting
amongst other things. So finally eagle you are admitting that they lied to the public over household charge and property tax? Do you think they might be lying over water charges as well?
This playacting in the Dail was nothing but a show of arrogance by the Blue Shirts. They carried just like that a few years ago, back slapping and bolloxing around the place.I hope ordinary people will not be fooled by their antics.this is typical carry on by Inda, he has no cop on at all, acting like a child after doing his/ her first bit of painting at the crèche. Fair play to all the Opposition speakers , they gave them a good dressing down. I really enjoyed Boyd- Barrett, he let them have it. What a shower of clowns, those Blue Shirts, and Labour backing them like little foals running after the Mare.
Well Brendan perhaps it’s finally starting to dawn on you that we the electorate in case you don’t know who that is the one’s that are still suffering from your broken promises and lies to protect the most vulnerable people in society from Fine Gael remember Labour’s way or Frankfurts way you have failed to do so. Instead of worrying about the opposition’s apathy worry about the people you are supposed to represent that’s why nobody is believing the excrement your spreading
It’s full of something minister…… and it ‘ain’t meat
Pie in the sky electioneering, nothing amazing at all
It is tally ho – the electorate have history though.
The only meat in it was around Noonans well fed jowls.
Throw a bone to the dogs, that’s what they think of us.
There were burgers out there last year that was supposed to be “REAL MEAT”" look what happened there. Please dont be taken in again by this shower. The rich will get richer. Same old story
An increase of 2% for all civil servants footed by tax payer TDs included.
nothing but spin doctoring playing with people’s minds, we could ,we might not sure heard all before P::::: off
they just don’t get it ….
Real meat? It’s more Quorn than rib eye in fairness Howlin.
no it’s being sold to us a real premium meat but it’s actually part of the horse meat scandal
That Spring Statement was indeed a landmark event.It showed the vision of the Government.I’d be very afraid to let them behind the wheel of any car as even specsavers can’t help them now !!!! They can’t see the hundreds of thousands of the State’s citizens in so much financial difficulties due to either losing their jobs,having low paid jobs,being taxed so much that their deductions are greater than their take-home pay,suffering considerable pay cuts etc etc.Not to mention the difficulty in securing a hospital bed let alone a trolley or fighting to keep a roof over their heads.They are just statistics to the Government.Despite all of this,the Government,this morning,seems stunned that their Spring Statement has been so negatively received by the electorate.It really shows just how out of touch they are with the ordeal of people’s everyday lives since the economic collapse took hold.That Spring Statement,as I perceive it,is the FG/Lab 2 Election manifesto,this meaning that it covers the forthcoming General Election,with its ‘fruits’ being delivered,in the main,towards the second next General Election !!!!
Clearly there’s an election just around the corner….
There is meat,Brendan.Unfortunately,it’s BSE (Bull Shit Economics)
the opposition are a little miffed that this government’s reforms are having a positive effect. Still, they wouldn’t be the opposition if they didn’t poopoo everything the current government does.
Tom what reforms? Is the HSE reformed. No. Are they reforming their pay? Yes.
Like the Seanad reforms is it, or how the Dail operates, or transparency reforms. I’m sorry but you come across as delusional with a statement like that!
Self praise is no praise
Tom – So we should congratulate them on their continued corruption instead ?
You guys are not in the real World – The Citizens of Ireland are not going to be fooled by smooth talking from gangster politicians any longer .
lets end cronyism, but remind me who the biggest crony’s are. ?
Curruption where’s the proof let’s see it as the shinners love to say go to the proper attorities with your allegations
Tom Doherty
This time round the people are the opposition.
what’s the point Ivon. they all work for the government. we had Michael Lowery, found without a reason of doubt to be a tax evader. and yet he’s still in politics. bertie also found to be a tax evader. was still in power until he resigned and no convictions after. bankers found to have knowingly mislead and lied to everyone, not one of them made accountable, most still working in the industry in this country or another. So remind me what’s the point of reporting them?
Let us have an independent investigation into the Siteserv deal first and i’d bet they would find criminality involved all the way to Kildare St. Insider trading i believe it’s called. And they can also investigate the payment of 5 million of our money to shareholders to (smooth) the deal, from which was a bankrupt entity. And honestly the very idea of KPMG investigating themselves is an insult to our intelligence.
Denis – Michael Lowry is still in politics because the electorate voted him in.
Berie re-elected and FF taking over 40% over the vote….
This gov. has to go, it is terribly out of touch.
Oh sorry Brendan, are we disturbing you from your champagne and smoked salmon?
Never giving Liebour a vote again.
Real meat if you are a real meat head
Its a pity the meat is bull
What an arrogant p***k
Horsemeat!!!!
Eh. Would that be horsemeat, howlin?
‘Meaty, beaty, big and beefy’ – unlike you, you obnoxious dwarf.
Er! Is there a new abattoir in the Dáil? No more fake meat then!
have your say