Subject: Irish Budget

Anyone seen the details of the latest Irish Budget? Some tough stuff in there. Hope it doesn't make its way across the water.
Mind you, it is not like we are paying unemployment benefit to the under-20s at a rate of about £180 a week..

You'll have all the teenagers emigrating to ireland with comments like that :)

Best place for them... Maybe they could afford to wear belts on £180 a week.

As for the budget, Irelands budget defecit is about 10% of GDP. Ours was about 3.3%, but...


"The Ernst & Young ITEM Club, which bases its forecasts on the UK finance ministry's economic model, said Britain's budget deficit would be 12.6 percent of GDP, far higher than Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling had predicted."

Too close to an election for harsh taxes. Whatever they do, they'll package them up as green taxes again.
They killed the car industry with their road tax changes. Let's see whose next.

I thought no one buying cars was killing the car industry?

I thought no one was buying cars because no-one can get loans.

I'm putting my faith in a change of government. Scrapping the ID card scheme could save a bit, abandoning the nonsensical 'Central Database' might help too, not to mention ripping out CCTV cameras and selling them for the (s)crap they are. And maybe we could pretend the Olympics don't exist..

That as well. The changes in road tax really did shaft the car industry.

Thats a fair point where you're talking about landrovers and similar sized beasts i suppose - and that's where the mark-up is, not in these fiddly 5 k rollerskates that are exempt.
(edited)

The car industry killed itself. Expecting everyone to buy a new model every other year IS a bit optimistic. Plain and simple: too many cars were/are being manufactured.

Especially when the cars last for 10 years. At least in the old days they were made badly enough for people to feel that they needed a new one every 3 years.

tis true...

and yeah irish dole is about 190 euro and theres rent allowance aswell..know a few people on something like 240 euro back home... 11% unemployment last time i heard! thats about 250,000 out of work in the country and not looking like improving :P