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Michael Noonan at Fota Island earlier today Eamonn Farrell/Photocall Ireland

Here's how Michael Noonan wants to end 'boom and bust' economics

The Finance Minister said that overspending by government poses the biggest threat to recovery.

MICHAEL NOONAN HAS said he wants to take the Irish economy away from the cycle of ‘boom and bust’ in the coming years as he warned against government departments overspending.

The Finance Minister was speaking at the start of the Fine Gael think-in in Fota Island this afternoon when he hailed “a lot of good economic news over the summer”.

He said the positive economic indicates are as a result of government policy in the last three years. But ahead of the October Budget he warned that the biggest risk to the recovery would be overspending by government.

“If you’d 20 government departments and they all spent €50 million extra – that’s a billion. At that stage then the weight of expenditure again is pressing down the potential for growth in the economy,” he said.

11/9/2014. Fine Gael Think-In. L to R. Taoiseach E Enda Kenny and Michael Noonan at Fota Island earlier today Eamonn Farrell / Photocall Ireland Eamonn Farrell / Photocall Ireland / Photocall Ireland

Noonan said the economic recovery must now be consolidated, saying: “If you look back, in my lifetime, we’ve had maybe four cycles where it went from boom to boost.

“When it busts, thousands of people, led by the building industry, [are] unemployed, emigration restarts, the kids are scattered all over the world, [it's] hard to get them back. We want to get away from that.”

He said that economies in northern Europe have a model of fiscal prudence with “strong finances, steady growth”.

Noonan said he sees no reason why the economy in Ireland cannot grow for the next ten years pointing to growth forecasts for Ireland this year and next of around 3 per cent.

As Fine Gael TDs, senators and MEPs kicked off their special parliamentary party meeting with a session on ‘a budget to secure Ireland’s economic recovery’, Noonan said he was looking for ideas that can grow the economy and create jobs and not ideas that would involve giveaways for votes.

Read: “Boom and bust” cycle at an end, hopefully — Howlin

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32 Comments
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    Mute Neal Ireland Hello
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    Sep 11th 2014, 5:25 PM

    “If you’ve 20 government departments and they all spend €50 million extra…”

    Not to go all lateral-thinking in everybody’s faces, but how about not having twenty government departments then?

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    Mute Sean O'Keeffe
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    Sep 11th 2014, 5:54 PM

    Definitely.
    Noonan has failed to tackle government profligacy in three years and now claims to be the Messiah of competent fiscal management. In a road to Damascus conversation?
    He’s talking out of both sides of his face.
    We have more quango’s now than when he took office. While our public sector remains amongst the highest paid on earth.

    ” There is no rational justification for European governments to insist on higher spending levels than in 2007. The post-crisis years have shown that in Italy, and in the EU was a whole, increased reliance on government spending drives up sovereign debt but doesn’t result in commensurate growth. The idea of a fiscal multiplier of more than one — every euro spent by the government coming back as a euro plus change in growth — obviously has not worked.”

    http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-08-19/european-austerity-is-a-myth

    56
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    Mute Tinker Taylor
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    Sep 11th 2014, 6:59 PM

    You’re right Neal, the MO of pen pushers in general is that they like to expand their brief because it makes them look “proactive”. The H.R. industry works on this principle. If we could restart there would be half the numbers currently employed.

    20
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    Mute Gerard Murphy
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    Sep 11th 2014, 5:29 PM

    Noonan said he was looking for ideas that can grow the economy and create jobs ……well one idea would be to stop giving employers ‘free labour’ under TUS & JOBBRIDGE !!! http://gfmurphy101.wordpress.com/2014/09/04/latest-figures-for-tus-jobbridge-etc/

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    Mute Getard Lanslanger
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    Sep 11th 2014, 5:44 PM

    Respectfully disagree Gerard. I have, over the last few years, taken on four people via Jobsbridge and gave three of them full time jobs. i think it is an excellent system as I essentially got nine months to assess a potential employee and they got nine months to show me they were able for the career. I stress career as these jobs do require a person to be able to grow and adapt. Due to learning curves and time resources from a training perspective I can guarantee you I made no financial killing from those nine month placements. Would i have taken the risk on those five without Jobsbridge? Maybe some but doubtfully all five.

    55
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    Mute brian
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    Sep 11th 2014, 5:55 PM

    While that may be valid, 9 months is too long by far. It’s easy to asses a persons capabilities in 9 weeks and often in 9 hours (occasionally 9 mins or less). The job bridge is not a bad idea but the remuneration needs to be sorted and the timeframe of assessment shortened. If you are getting valuable work out of people they should be appropriately paid. After 9 months, if you don’t need/want them then that’s fine but the system is exploiting the worst off and that is wrong.

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    Mute Dave O'Hanlon
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    Sep 11th 2014, 6:52 PM

    I just cannot figure employers out. Im told by (ahem) expert recruiters that an employer knows your right for the job as soon as you walk in for the interview and now apparently it takes from New years Day till after the middle of autumn. Make your bloody minds up. 3 months is usually the maximum probationary period, the jump up to 9 months seemed to happen in 2011by a funny coincidence

    36
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    Mute mjhint
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    Sep 11th 2014, 5:58 PM

    While I welcome his view on government spending some of us in the private sector have had our wages decreased over the last 6 years & had to put up with competition from other European states exporting cheap labour. Now this is at an end & I along with others have carried this burden long enough. So now its payback time. Theres a shortage of specific workers in the country & we will have to be paid properly now & theres no help from eastern Europe.

    67
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    Mute Kane Abel
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    Sep 11th 2014, 8:00 PM

    Michael Noonans views aren’t relevant he is a figurehead who is paid to deliver the views of a hidden team of economic advisors.

    If you want to get the actual measure of Michael Noonan as a human being then google hepatitis c Brigid McCole.

    - Here is a man that deserves respect from no soul.

    He is evil in a suit.

    39
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    Mute Kevin Brady
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    Sep 11th 2014, 9:19 PM

    Noonan is a comedian. The end of boom and bust economics, eh? Nice flat 3/5 annual growth? Well why the F is he deliberately inflating a property bubble with Dublin house prices rising at a record 25% per annum? What a load of nonsense

    29
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    Mute Kerry Blake
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    Sep 11th 2014, 5:30 PM

    So Noonan going to solve the boom to bust cycle? Some man for one man…

    65
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    Mute Alien8
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    Sep 11th 2014, 5:29 PM

    After all the Hogan articles yesterday, can we not have a day without another patronising pr1ck who thinks that he knows best how to p1ss away other people’s money.

    56
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    Mute Kieran Doherty
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    Sep 11th 2014, 5:54 PM

    The banks didn’t cause any crash
    It was the mexicans?

    51
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    Mute HARRY MARKOPOLOS
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    Sep 11th 2014, 5:44 PM

    You’ll be gone in a year or so Mickey.
    Playing golf with Cowen and Bertie in Galway on a big fat pension refusing to talk to us eh.

    43
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    Mute Pete Foley
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    Sep 11th 2014, 6:00 PM

    Didn’t bother him to much wasting money setting up Irish water

    40
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    Mute Tony Le Blanc
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    Sep 11th 2014, 6:32 PM

    Government says government spending too much government money. Glad thats cleared up

    37
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    Mute Joseph O'Regan
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    Sep 11th 2014, 8:35 PM

    Yes we have some of the highest paid politicians in the world.

    28
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    Mute Ger Fleming
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    Sep 11th 2014, 5:54 PM

    End 0 boom and bust. What planet is this guy on? Going to rewrite the laws of economics and make us the first capitalist e coming to eliminate boom and bust

    32
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    Mute Sean O'Keeffe
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    Sep 11th 2014, 6:04 PM

    He’s already party to creating a new property bubble in Dublin but claims he knows how to avoid this happening.
    The arrogance is staggering.

    “I have previously expressed concern, as have many others, at this. What is of most concern is that the government are seemingly insouciant. They have in fact dismissed concerns of a bubble, and have put in place mechanisms to stoke prices.”

    Prof Brian Lucey

    38
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    Mute Pinel G
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    Sep 11th 2014, 5:40 PM

    Teachers ruining our country, makes my blood boil. surprised he didn’t start talking about a boom and bust tax!!

    32
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    Mute Tracey Nally
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    Sep 11th 2014, 7:28 PM

    I would love to put all potential TDs on jobbridge. 9 months for us, the employers, to decide whether they are any good at their jobs. If they are of no benefit then we can try someone else and put them on jobbridge for 9 months. Until we get effective government and portfolio management.

    31
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    Mute Robin Tobin
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    Sep 11th 2014, 5:39 PM

    A split hair decision to keep taxing us for most of our income. Noonan and the revenue commissioners have created species at odd with equality laws. For example if you are not married and have a child and your partner is dead then you get treated less favourable than a married surviving parent. This widow tax credit will have to be challenged with the equality authority.

    Noonan told fathers they cant have there tax credit for being a dad working and supporting a child they don’t live with. Again a species element in tax allowances credits.

    I would love if these fathers and parents mothers or dads would join a group as a species and hand the application to the equality authority as family status does not allow you to be treated less favourable or more favourable. Equal for both sets of widow whether married or not.

    If you have been treated this way ring the equality authority on 014173336 to make an application against these in-equal tax credits.

    29
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    Mute Jack Delaney
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    Sep 11th 2014, 6:03 PM

    Another FG politician spouting bullshit in order to keep the gravy train on the road. Last time I checked the figures this country is burst and if even if we ever manage to clear the debt it will take at least two or three generations and a lot of inflation. ‘Growth’ in the economy is what takes place in the East not in Europe where the figures show both stagnation and deflation in many cases. Shuffling paper and taxing the shit out of an economy to fund mad cap schemes like Irish Water, the NCT, to name but a few, might create some employment but ultimately it is not generating wealth but playing musical chairs with the money supply.

    24
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    Mute Brian O' Connor
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    Sep 11th 2014, 7:40 PM

    Unfortunately it’s not Government money, it’s taxpayers money.

    16
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    Mute Eddie Smith
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    Sep 11th 2014, 8:57 PM

    Governments are ruled by the Constitution so we should amend the Constitution to protect the Irish people from Government over spending and borrowing. If you think about it, it is the Constitution that gives the right to the Government to raise taxes and to borrow but there is no limit to the level of taxes or borrowings within the Constitution. So for example if the Constitution said that the maximum amount of tax that a Government could take as a percentage of GNP might be 35% and if they go over this figure then the Government is dissolved we would see ‘real’ difficult decision being taken. On the borrowings side it could be for example 3 or 4 percent of GNP per year up to a maximum of 70% of GNP as debt. If the Government wants to borrow more, it must hold a referendum to ask the Irish people if they are willing to allow themselves to be burdened with this extra debt. If this borrowing limit had been in place then no bank bailout could have happened without a referendum. That would be real democracy at work.

    15
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    Mute Mary Kavanagh
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    Sep 12th 2014, 1:44 AM

    Great idea, Eddie. Absolutely zero chance of it happening though, unfortunately.

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    Mute Jack Cass
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    Sep 11th 2014, 8:31 PM

    “When it busts,…. emigration restarts, the kids are scattered all over the world, [it's] hard to get them back. We want to get away from that.”

    This coming from the man that said immigration is a life style choice.

    15
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    Mute John Flood
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    Sep 11th 2014, 8:55 PM

    Every twenty years or so there is a major financial crisis, either regional or global. Boom and bust is the rhythm of the world’s developed countries. Like all things boom and bust comes in various degrees. I’m sure Mr. Noonan is in line for a Nobel Prize in Economics for devising a system that avoids boom and bust.

    12
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    Mute sid
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    Sep 11th 2014, 7:23 PM

    Not to sound like a smartalac but isnt that fairly obvious. Please don’t tell me he’s only figured it out now. As far as i can see the problem happens because they buy votes by hiring extra staff using borrowed money who in turn think the govt are great for giving them work and naturally will vote for them and keep them in power which is what the govt want.

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    Mute skullbaggio
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    Sep 11th 2014, 11:29 PM

    Overpaid politicians, retiring on numerous fat salaries from various positions, some requiring only minimal service for eligibility, “think-ins” in Fota!! Have a good look around you minister, can’t see the wood for the trees

    5
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    Mute conriel
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    Sep 12th 2014, 9:20 AM

    Over the passed years we’ve be told that the Irish punch above our weight, financially this is very through We have a situation in this country where some have to be paid salaries, far greater that their counterparts in other similar countries, it is simply not right or fair,
    private sector earns 50k public sector earns 50k, both pay similar taxes, when they retire, one sector get looked after, the other get ???, When will all working people paying tax get equal recognition,

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    Mute Bernard O'Brien
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    Sep 12th 2014, 12:22 AM

    It makes perfect sense, Look after the millions and the billions will take care of themselves, Fianna Fail got it backwards squandering the millions imagining there was an unlimited supply of billions.

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