To say Ireland has the right idea: Budget 2023

[50percentNamaste50percentGoFuckYourself]

I watched agog at last weeks UK mini budget...an absolute travesty.

Today was Ireland's Budget 2023, which was much more impressive.
Hightlights include:

25% reduction in childcare fees
Extension of free GP care to cover half the country
Free contraception
Large reductions in third level fees (which were already a third of the UK)
Increases in lower tax bands
Increases in all social welfare payments
Double payment of child benefit
Electricity credits of 600€ per household
Reduced tax on fuels and energy costs
Increase rent tax credits
Funding for 10,000 new social homes
Increased third level grants
Removal hospital charges and free contraception extended

It's all concentrated on the cost of living, on making things easier for people on low and average wages, looking after those with less.

It's what a budget in these times should be

Pretty much widespread global condemnation for the UK budget!

www.economist.com/britain/2022/09/23/britains-chancellor-offers-up-a-reckless-budget-fiscally-and-politically

It reminds me of when Ireland fucked up. This is a spectacular fuck-up.

This recession is going to be worse than most of us have ever seen.

@sillysmiles to be honest I prefer it that way! It stops people from abusing the GP surgery. I have a relative in the U.K. who looks for a GP appointment nearly every second week of trivial issues and another who goes to the doctor for no more than a chat. I’m always seeing posters on here for the U.K. complaining that they can’t get an appointment. I can get one in 24 hours usually and I can claim 50% through my health insurance. Most normal people only visit the gp once every few months at most anyway!

Abusing the GP surgery? People can't see a GP over here so instead they have to go to A&E. My GP sent me a text today telling me to go to A&E as my blood results were low on some things so I need to get bloods repeated and am still symptomatic. Sitting on a damned steel chair for 8 hours is an exercise in futility as I'll leave before I'm even seen so essentially I can't see a doctor at all!!! It's fucking ridiculous here.

@Heswipedright precisely my point. If the GP’s weren’t so backed up with people seeing them for every eek then they would have time to see you. Do you not have nurses at your GP surgery, over here if you need bloods find you see the nurse not the Doc.

Every few months! Bloody hell, between myself and my two children we've been to the doctor maximum 4 times in the last 4 years.

The UK lowered its interest rate on the loan for the Republic of Ireland when it didn't have to.

But how exactly did the ROI "bail out the EU"?

The total EU bailout was €85 billion (including the UK loan) for the Republic of Ireland. Paying interest is NOT bailing out the EU.

Where in the IMF statement do you get any suggestion the UK would need bailing out in future?

Their statement carries no such suggestion, but it does express concern about the potential increase in inequality. This isn’t the same thing as a likelihood of requiring a bailout.

So, it looks like you said this in order to deflect from a previous poster's assertion the ROI needed a bailout in the past.

However, the IMF has been wrong about the UK before (2014) and apologised for it. So, we'll all see exactly what transpires within six months. A lot can yet happen.

Biden also hates it and the European Consortium For Political Research stated "Biden's minimum corporate tax rate could destroy Ireland's economic growth model, leaving the country in uncharted territory."

Biden did get the ROI to agree to up their corporation tax rate to 15% which he also achieved with about 140 OECD countries. Now, he wants it to be 20% which he needs to get through Congress in order to enact it. Hence the above quote. He previously failed to get his previous 15% bill through Congress, so this is his second attempt.

Nobel Prize winning economist, Paul Krugman coined the phrase "Leprechaun Economics" to describe the Irish economy. Essentially, investment that doesn't correspond to anything real but which looks astounding on paper.

Here:

www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/leprechaun-economics-key-to-understanding-us-corporate-tax-proposal-1.4533410

The United States really doesn't like tax havens such as the ROI and wants to change those actions to their liking.

Leprechaun economics sounds pretty insulting 😂

NOBODY CAN SEE A GP HERE! Lol
There is no backlog because Granny fancies a chat!
You simply can't get an appointment.

God no.

In order to get bloods done you need to do the following:

1. Win the fastest finger first test to get through to the GP surgery.
2. Manage to be polite to the receptionist
3. Manage to get a telephone appointment for 2 weeks time with a GP
4. Have a GP spend longer than 2.4 seconds with you to see why you're calling
5. Manage to communicate that you need bloods checked
6. Manage to collect blood test form
7. Manage to make an appointment with the blood-test clinic (not at the GP surgery and miles away)
8. Manage to stay alive for a further 2 weeks
9. Manage to make your way to the blood testing clinic
10. Repeat steps 1-4 above to find out what the blood results were

Nothing is normal here 😆

Oh I forgot one. If you miss the GP's call, you go back to the beginning again! They don't tell you a time. They say 'the doctor will call you on the 29th February (and it's not a fucking leap year!). If you ask for a specific time, you might as well be asking for caviar brought to you by the fucking palace!🙄

I do not think we should be comparing Ireland and the UK. Ireland has only been a self ruling country for 100 years. We had to start off completely from scratch and we were very poor up until and including the 1980s. However we have done extremely well and we now have an excellent standard of living. The UK has always been very wealthy.
When I look at the current UK government I am extremely grateful that we have a government in Ireland that seem to care about us. The Irish budget addressed the cost of living crisis using funds we have and the govt have set funds aside for a rainy day. From what I have read the UK budget seems to favouring the rich and using borrowed money. The UK is becoming more unequal whereas the Irish govt are trying to reduce inequality. The poor in the UK are much poorer than the poor in Ireland and the rich in the UK are much richer than the rich in Ireland.

A change of government would address this for the UK, if that's what the people want and vote for.
As an aside I have always found the health care system in Ireland to be very good I have health insurance paid for my work. I can always get a same day or next day appointment with my GP. Those on lower incomes or with a disability etc have medical cards providing free health care .
The biggest issue in Ireland at the moment is the housing crisis especially in the cities

Because German and French bank bond holders who gambled 100 billion on Irish property markets and lost should have lost their money. But that would have destabilised the German and French banks. So the Irish taxpayer was forced to take on the debt and to pay the debt through cutting their social provisions and taxing us to a level where every irish tax payer has paid around 30k in increased taxes to pay for unsecured German and French Bank bond holders and to support our banks who also gambled and lost. An emergency tax of around 2k a person per year was introduced just for this. We still pay it now every month above all other taxes. It even has a special name.
If German banks tanked the euro tanked, and that is how Ireland, Greece, Portugal and to a certain extent Spain paid to save the European project.

It'll be his grave. He got in on the Irish-American vote.

www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/nov/25/google-to-pay-183m-in-back-taxes-to-irish-government

www.irishtimes.com/business/technology/facebook-ireland-pays-35m-to-settle-tax-issues-and-sets-aside-1bn-for-possible-fines-1.4742716

The EU doesn't like the Irish getting screwed either.

Merci!

Well it's a more sensible budget.

However ROI has huge issues with health and housing that (believe it or not) go far beyond the situation in the U.K. so it's not all rosy by any means.

As an aside I have always found the health care system in Ireland to be very good I have health insurance paid for my work. I can always get a same day or next day appointment with my GP.

Well of course those who have private health care find the system good.

Very arrogant statement waiting lists for public patients are atrocious.

2/3 years before seeing a consultant who'll pop you on another long list.

There is the cross border scheme if waiting over a year after your consultant but you've to pay privately for that before getting a reimbursement.

Disability services for children is even worse. I cannot afford yearly private health care for the family though I've spent 1000's over the years accessing services for DC who have ASD and other comorbidity issues.

I feel like a self trained adolescent psychologist and occupational therapist through research however many DC don't have any supports at home and none from the state.

Cop yourself on.

A much underused turn of phrase🙌

I have fantastic health insurance from my employer, that covers my whole family.

I spent 2.5 years trying to get a consultant appointment for my son who has severe eczema. The system is a shambles.

I got one appointment in that time, with a woman who was absolutely useless. We had a number of other referrals that went nowhere, either because the waiting lists were years long or the consultant wouldn't actually see him.

He's now under the care of a consultant in Belfast who is wonderful. We had to actually leave the country (in a manner of speaking) to get him the care he needed for fairly standard childhood condition.

Well it's a more sensible budget.

It's a lick arse budget so they're not over thrown.

There was a massive Dublin protest in the days before, they know people have had enough.

There's is no housing, students are sleeping in tents on campus, many are travelling over 100 miles a day due to the accommodation shortage.

The government rent capped the main city type counties at 4% but forgot about the rural areas.

Landlords in rural areas have raised the rent by 60% they're evicting longterm tenants who cannot afford the huge increases.

There is 1000's of Ukrainian people searching for independent accommodation too.

2016 onwards has been a whirlwind.

We have freedom of movement between Ireland and the UK.
Those of you not happy in Ireland are free to move...

I'm saving ATT DS has chronic tonsillitis he'll have his operation April.

From next year I'll take out insurance like the majority of the country.as the public health system is shit😋

Those of you not happy in Ireland are free to move.
Great advice. 🙄