BUDGET 2015 VIEWS: If I was Noonan.....
- Chris Goodey, Chief executive
This budget will implement a targeted primary care and general practice investment programme to include the following:
-Adequate GP, nursing and other staff to provide the services;
-Development and transfer of services into primary care that currently take place in expensive hospital settings;
-Setting the measures of patient outcomes that will be used and supported in their implementation;
-Management, development and training in effective and efficient models of primary care;
nImplementation and proper resourcing of chronic disease care programmes such as diabetes care;
-IT infrastructure to support the best practice models of care, including disease-specific programmes and efficient integration with acute services and social care;
-Providing support staff to enable clinicians to do their job;
-An assessment of the level of funding for GP services in socially disadvantaged areas ;
-An open-minded and direct engagement with the NAGP on the proposed new contract must be undertaken;
An annual survey by the Department of Health/HSE on patient access to GP services so as to ensure that variations and disadvantages do not become embedded, either on a regional or socio-economic basis.
- Jack O’Connor, president
In this budget I will introduce a refundable water tax credit to cover the cost of each households’ “normal” domestic needs.
This should equate with about 90% of the Regulator’s estimate for average “usage”, pending analysis over the next year to establish an average “normal need”. It would cost less than €350m. Every householder will receive the same tax credit depending on the number of occupants, therefore, it would totally fair and progressive.
It will also offset the deflationary effect of the grossly regressive water charges, while simultaneously preserving the incentive for conservation.
After that, any resources available for tax alleviation will be concentrated on the Universal Social Charge. This would ensure that all taxpayers would benefit.
Recent demands for cutting the top tax rate are just blatant calls for tax relief for the rich and if introduced would benefit only 17% of income earners, with those at the top getting most, while the majority 83% who would subsidise it would get nothing.
If this government is to consider these cuts measures, they should be offset by severe curtailment of allowances, such as pension contribution tax relief at the top end. There will be no further public spending cuts. Indeed, expenditure in key areas, such as health and social housing will be increased. Steps will also be taken to begin to restore benefits to those on low incomes.
- Tom Parlon, Director-general
The main priorities in Budget 2015 will be to build on the confidence that is growing in the economy and to foster the more positive outlook in the country.
As minister of finance, I realise more jobs are a necessity and I plan to look at how I can get as many people as possible off the Live Register, while ensuring that the employment opportunities were spread across the country.
Looking at the statistics, I realise the best way to do that is encourage construction activity. One in four of the people on the dole are former construction workers so I’d know more construction will make a major difference when it comes to job creation.
With the housing supply at such low levels, I see this as an opportunity to tackle both these problems by taking steps that would encourage more residential construction.
I plan to reduce development levies, cut the Vat rate on new houses or apartments to 9%, allow planning changes to be fast tracked and cut the non-performing windfall tax, which is currently preventing land from being rezoned for housing.
I also plan to look at how construction companies are unable to secure more than 60% of the value of a project and provides a fund that would allow that gap to be bridged.
Finally, I acknowledge that capital spending has fallen too much during the course of the downturn, dropping every year since 2009 and having fallen by 59% in that time.
I plan to reverse that trend by investing in much-needed public infrastructure such as schools, hospitals and transport links. Ian Power: SpunOut executive director.
Youth unemployment is twice the average, at 26%.
We must reinstate normal income supports for all young jobseekers in work or training
Ian Power, executive director
This budget will invest in our young people looking for work.
It’s no secret that young people have been hardest hit by the financial crisis.
Our youth unemployment rate is twice the average rate at 26%, and the OECD says 40% of Irish young people aged 16-24 are at risk of poverty — the highest in the EU. Despite this, Budget 2014 slashed income supports to young job-seekers by €44 a week (30%) to save the Exchequer €32m. It was said this was to incentivise young people into education, employment, or training.
The Nevin Economic Research Institute says the data shows an “absence of jobs, not motivation, is the central issue for young people looking for work”.
After last year’s budget, the National Youth Council of Ireland estimated that just 3,250 additional education, training and work-experience places were created for the 30,000 long-term unemployed young people on the live register.
Young people want to work, we want to learn, but opportunities are limited by the deficit of places on meaningful training or work schemes. Last year, the Government put just €14m toward the implementation of the youth guarantee, less than 5% of what it is estimated it will cost to do it properly.
Cutting income supports for young jobseekers under 26 was a double whammy when you consider the cost of living while participating in unpaid work. Notwithstanding the inequity of the cut on the basis of age alone, it seems cruel to punish those trying their best by engaging in a course or a JobBridge internship.
This budget will no doubt attempt to increase the confidence of consumers to spend and employers to hire. It must also attempt to build confidence in our young people by funding real opportunities and reinstating the normal adult rate for all young jobseekers engaged in education, work experience and training.
Ultimately, we need to invest in opportunity and provide young people with an income to get by while they try to secure a job. It’s not only the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do.
Padraig Cribben, Chief Executive
This budget will reverse the harsh excise increases imposed last year. Excise is a tax we simply can’t afford and reversing the excise hike will put money back in the consumer’s pocket and increase confidence.
Last year’s 10 cent increase on beer created a situation where jobs in the pub trade are under threat.
Between 2009 and 2013, there were 6,000 job losses in the pub industry. What the Government can now do is ease the pain on consumers and the pub industry by reversing this increase.
This Government’s commitments have consistently been about job creation and reducing unemployment. It is equally important to maintain jobs already there.
Regrettably, pubs have closed and jobs have been lost.
We plan reverse the increase which will help protect the 50,000 jobs which the Irish pub accounts for. Ireland is already one of the most highly taxed countries in the EU and this Government needs to realise that excise is a tax on employment, a tax on consumers, and a tax on tourism.
At a time when Central Statistics Office figures indicate we are attracting more and more tourists, it would be foolish to consider making Ireland even more expensive for tourists.
Furthermore, the increases of the last two years have highlighted the disparity between the on trade and off trade, encouraging the misuse of cheap alcohol being sold by supermarkets as a loss leader.
Reversing last year’s excise increase will be an initial step in the right direction.
- Seamus Coffey, UCC lecturer
This budget speech is going to be a record-breaker — the shortest ever.
There should be no tax cuts or expenditure increases. Ireland is emerging from a prolonged recession but recovering lost ground will take several years. Just as we see the first signs of recovery is not the time to be loosening the purse strings.
There are several things helping the budgetary arithmetic at the moment: Revised GDP figures from the CSO, higher than expected economic growth, higher than anticipated tax revenue, and lower debt interest payments.
A lot of this improvement, however, is based on transitory effects. Permanent tax cuts or expenditure increases should not be introduced on the back of gains that will not be around forever.
The problems that emerged when the massive tax revenues from construction and property evaporated six years ago are testament to the dangers of that approach.
Budget 2015 will be “broadly neutral” but expenditure increases of €600m have been suggested and, apart from water charges, no additional tax revenue will be raised.
The budget will contain no deliberate efforts to reduce the deficit which is still forecast to be €5bn in 2014.
The deficit reduction will be left to the temporary measures discussed above. The Government is hoping these will last until the general election but we need budgetary policy that will see us through the next 15 years not just the next 15 months.
The Government will park their expenditure increases and tax cuts until the recovery is fully grounded.
- Joe Moore
In Budget 2015, we will:
-Bring the immediate end to the direct provision system;
-Close every direct provision centre;
-Allow immigrants the right to work;
-Give them access to third-level education.
The closure of the direct provision system would mean a saving to the State of €51m per annum. The Government pays over €50m a year to private firms to provide substandard accommodation and food to asylum seekers while the direct provision system enforces idleness and sees highly qualified people from around the world wasting their skills.
Asylum seekers who work will contribute to society and the economy in many ways, and the financial return to the state through taxes will make up for any asylum seekers who are out of work.
Currently adult asylum seekers receive €19.10 a week; a payment that incorporates the full adult social protection rate minus deductions.
Instead of diverting the majority of these benefits to private companies, asylum seekers should be paid the same rate as other people who receive State support.
Those who are out of work will be able to spend, in the local economy, the money that is currently being diverted to the owners and operators of the centres.
These measures will also support Ireland in meeting the EU Reception Conditions Directive.
-Danny McCoy, Chief executive.
This budget will give me a chance to give taxpayers a break and support job creation.
Positive economic trends mean we have an opportunity to put fresh momentum behind the recovery and draw a line under austerity. The resources are now available to reduce income and consumer taxes. This will boost economic activity and ultimately lead to more jobs.
The punitive 52% marginal tax rate is a serious disincentive to work, taking a promotion or doing overtime. We are way out of line internationally and it’s making it difficult for companies to attract mobile talent to the country. Budget 2015 will increase the entry point to the higher tax rate, reduce the rate from 52% to 51%, and reform the universal social charge so self-employed and PAYE workers are treated the same.
We also need the right tax environment to encourage more investment in business and infrastructure. The capital gains tax regime will to be overhauled to encourage companies to reinvest their money in new projects. And we also need to take full advantage of low interest rates and make much more use of Public Private Partnerships.
In recent years, Ireland has become less attractive to foreign investment. This budget will address that. The UK in particular has reformed its tax code to make it a much more attractive location. The commitment to the 12.5% corporate tax rate must remain, but we must do more. We need to improve Ireland’s intellectual property tax regime and provide greater certainty around the R&D tax credit scheme.
- Roughan MacNamara, Advocacy manager
This budget will raise the level of rent supplement to match market rents so that fewer people would lose their homes and those who cannot find a home would be better enabled to do so.
The rates should be more regularly reviewed.
The Taoiseach has accepted that homelessness is at a crisis point. It’s time now to put in place proportionate responses. State-subsidised rents are set too low to be attractive to landlords, so people have to top up their rent allowance, and when they run into financial difficulties they lose their homes.
We will put in place better rent regulation to provide effective protection for those living in private rented accommodation.
Rent regulation works well in other countries to ensure that individuals and families can have a secure, long-term home in the rental market.
We will also introduce a €500m investment in the budget to provide at least 3,000 homes. This will not only provide social housing but also much needed jobs to help stimulate the economy and help to bring about conditions in which fewer people are in dire financial straits.
This investment will continue in future budgets.
As politicians, we have a duty to re-examine our approach to homelessness.
Policies which are based solely on a desire to balance the books at all costs simply do not work. We talk of economic recovery, but we also have a duty to make sure the first part of this recovery is a social recovery.
The increasing numbers of people experiencing poverty must stop and there must be a social protection system in place that enables people to live rather than just survive.
The Government will show real leadership on this issue by taking real and immediate action. We will tackle housing need and homelessness to offer hope to individuals and families living in fear of losing their home.
- Orla O’Connor, Childcare priority
The choices being made in Budget 2015 are not simply about how to balance, where to cut, and what to protect.
As we move out of recession, the decisions in Budget 2015 will bring us closer to, rather than further from, a more equal Ireland for women and men.
This means investing in services, particularly childcare, through the introduction of a second free pre-school year.
We plan to develop a progressive model taxation which enables the lower paid, the majority of whom are women, to maximise their income and to increase taxation on higher earners through the introduction of a new top rate of tax.
There will be no reduction in taxes for those on high incomes. Cost of living increases will be recognised through an increase of €5 to child benefit and other social welfare payments.
Services responding and challenging violence against women will be prioritised in Budget 2015 as they have experienced significant cuts and simultaneously are under severe pressure from increasing demand for their supports and services.
Budgets are not gender neutral and women have suffered the most as a result of austerity.
All decisions in Budget 2015 have been tested with regard to the different impact on women and men so that women and those most vulnerable to low pay and poverty receive an increase in their living standards.
We will introduce a €20 rise in the Disability Allowance
After seven austerity budgets, people with disabilities and their families badly need a break.
The health services that they require, along with essential income supports, have been seriously eroded, as needs and the cost of living has increased. Ireland is now at a critical stage in its economic recovery, with repeated calls for pay rises and tax reductions from the trade union and business sectors. However, there can be no further consideration of these approaches until there is a credible and functioning community infrastructure to support people with disabilities and their families.
Personal and social services for people with disabilities have been decimated over recent years while demand is increasing. Since 2008, HSE funding for disability services has dropped by €159.4m.
The services will not be subjected to further cuts, but rather a plan for continued social investment will be developed and implemented. The Government will ensure that no further undue hardship is placed on people with disabilities through the cutting of mainstream or specialist services in the community they rely on.
The adverse impact of cuts and withdrawals imposed on people with disabilities since 2008 means that they and their families do not have adequate income, and struggle with basic necessities — in 2011, 45% of people with disabilities experienced income poverty and 36% experienced basic deprivation.
In response, this Budget will introduce an increase of €20 to the Disability Allowance to reflect the extra cost of living with a disability in Ireland.
In addition, supplementary benefits such as a household benefits package, a domiciliary care allowance and free travel scheme, will be protected.
We will ensure that there are sustainable and long-term solutions to protect people with disabilities from the impact of future budgetary decisions such as the introduction of water charges, beyond yearly budget cycles.
- Eamon Timmins
Budget 2015 will ensure that older people across Ireland do not have to make the unacceptable choices which many currently face — between paying for food, fuel or medication.
The cumulative impact of successive austerity budgets has left many older people in this dangerous situation.
Age Action surveyed members across the country earlier this year, they told us how they went to bed early each night, and stayed in bed later each morning in order to stay warm.
Members spoke about cutting back on food in order to pay their heating bills. Others spoke of spending savings they had put aside for their funerals to carry out urgent repairs on their homes. Some were reviewing medications in a bid to avoid prescription charges.
Life is about choices. But years of austerity measures have left many older people stoically making dangerous decisions as their limited incomes are stretched by rising prices and a series of new and increasing taxes and charges.
It is vital that the Government recognises the impact which successive policies have had on some of the poorest and most vulnerable in our society. It must ensure they receive increased income supports and that funding for services they depend on (such as home helps, rural transport, and day care centres) are protected.
Age Action has sought a €5 per week increase in the state pension, the restoration of the Christmas bonus, a reversal of the cuts in recent years to the Household Benefits Package, and a restoration of the six weeks cut from the means-tested fuel allowance.
These measures would leave older people with more money in their pocket at the end of the week. They could then decide how to spend this, and so ease some of the dreadful choices which older people are facing.
-
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
