Time to right the wrongs of Celtic Tiger budgets

A COUPLE of suggestions for the upcoming budget:

* Give wealthy individuals the chance to “opt out” of the children’s allowance. A communication to every recipient of the allowance could be phrased: “tick the box if you would like to redistribute your children’s allowance to parents in greater need”. It could also include the phrase “parents/guardians have the right to re-apply to receive the children’s allowance at any time.”

* Offer an amnesty (similar to the tax amnesties) to return the handout that the Government gave them on the Special Saving Investment Accounts (SSIAs) that matured in 2006. The SSIAs were arguably one of the ugliest manifestations of the Celtic Tiger widening the gulf between the haves and the have-nots. Poor people could not afford to save because they needed all their income for things like food, rent, fuel and medication.