We put companies before citizens

WHEN the history of the third millennium is finally recorded, will the Irish Republic be accorded its proper due as a leader of that political movement which converted societies into economies?

The traditional view is that you judge a society by how it treats its weakest members, but you won’t hear any of that outdated old guff from our elected leaders.

Instead you’ll hear about GDP/GNP growth, levels of employment, inward investment, current rates of interest, inflation, taxation, etc.

For his latest general election marketing campaign, the Taoiseach has decided that the rights of children should be more firmly enshrined in the constitution.

The often misunderstood phrase in the 1916 Proclamation springs to mind — ‘cherishing all the children of the nation equally’.

The success of the Irish economy is largely attributable to the fact that we have become a tax haven for corporate enterprise.

The Irish corporation tax rate of 12.5% compares with standard rates of 30%-40% for companies in all major EU member states, as well as the USA, Japan, China and Australia.

However, Ireland is also the only one of those countries where the standard rate of personal tax (20%) is higher than that paid by companies. And remember, for ordinary citizens tax rates are applied to gross income before deduction of normal living expenses whereas companies are taxed on after-expense income, ie, on their profits.

So any redrafting of our constitution should logically recognise the pre-eminence of the corporate entity rather than the citizen and the principles of any new constitution should reflect that new and more relevant aspiration of ‘cherishing all of the companies of the nation equally’, reflecting the new reality of the country we are living in.

No one in his or her right mind would wish a return to the days of the one-way mailboat ticket, but surely some of our politicians can articulate a credible vision for our society and the role of the economy in achieving that vision rather than the other way around?

Peter Molloy

9 Haddington Park

Glenageary

Co Dublin