Alternative, costed Budget shows how Government could reduce borrowing by €3bn while protecting the vulnerable in Budget 2011

Budget 2011 should eliminate tax breaks that mostly benefit the better off, should ensure the corporate sector makes a contribution towards rectifying Ireland’s current crisis, should take action to reduce the live-register by 100,000 in 2011, should tackle the working poor problem and increase social welfare rates for Ireland’s most vulnerable people. This would result in Government borrowing being reduced by €3bn while producing a stimulus package of more than €1.1bn in 2011.

Details of how government could achievee these outcomes were published in Social Justice Ireland's fully-costed Budget for 2011 entiteld A Fairer Future is Possible.

• Standard rate the tax-break for pension contributions;
• Address the working poor issue by making tax credits refundable;
• Introduce a Part-Time Job Opportunities Programme that would produce real part-time jobs for 100,000 unemployed people on a voluntary basis;
• Introduce an income-contingent loan facility which would enable all third-level students borrow money to pay fees and cover their living costs;
• Increase funding for primary level education and adult literacy programmes;
• Provide substantial support for developing an integrated healthcare model through supporting primary care teams, older people and children and family programmes;
• Increase all social welfare rates;
• Introduce a levy on corporate sector profits;
• Move towards meeting the UN target for Ireland’s Third World Aid Budget

• Introduce some tax reform;
• Ensure progressive redistribution;
• Produce a fairer sharing of the burden;
• Address the working poor issue;
• Produce real part-time jobs for 100,000 unemployed people;
• Protect the vulnerable
• Make progress towards a better healthcare system;
• Produce greater equity in the education system;
• Move towards attaining the UN target for supporting the world’s poorest people;
• Ensure the corporate sector would also make some small contribution towards rectifying Ireland’s current situation.
• Produce a stimulus package worth more than €1.1bn in 2011. 

Budget 2010 - comprehensive material available here

 
A wide range of materials on Budget 2010 can be accessed on this site.  Included are the following and many more:

• Social Justice Ireland's Analysis and Critique of Budget 2010 - FULL TEXT
• Unfair, unjust Budget fails the vulnerable, damages the economy
• If Government has nothing to hide, why not supply full Budget documentation
• Government Budget documentation

• Social Justice Ireland's proposals on Budget 2010 - Full text
• Social Justice Ireland's Policy Briefing on Budget Choices - Full Text
• Large majority want fair Budget - would increase tax rather than cut welfare or services
• Government publishes Pre-Budget White Paper
• Pre-Budget Outlook published November 12, 2009 - FULL TEXT
• Minister for Finance's statement on the Pre-Budget Outlook - FULL TEXT
• Department of Finance publishes analysis of replacement rates for unemployed people
• Budget Perspectives - ESRI/FFS - Full Text
• Bord Snip disproportionately targets those who are poor or sick or older or vulnerable
• Government should take integrated approach to Budget 2010 as Ireland's total tax-take plummets towards record low
• Budget 2010 presents Government with stark choices
• Poor Can't Pay Campaign Budget Analysis shows poor hardest hit
• Text of Commission on Taxation Report
• Social Justice Ireland comments on Government's Pre-Budget Outlook
• Social Justice Ireland challenges Ireland’s benchmarking of itself beside Romania, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia
• Total tax-take needs to change - article in Irish Examiner by Director of Social Justice Ireland
• Bord Snip Nua Report - full text
• Exchequer Statement June 2009

Budget 2011 - Relevant documents and some issues

Information on some of the issues relevant to Budget 2011 addressed on this website can be accessed here.  Likewise some of the key context-setting documents. They include the following:

• Social Justice Ireland's analysis of Ireland's taxation situation (level, base, proposals for change) can be accessed here.
• Social Justice Ireland's analysis of how Ireland came to be in its present mess and how it should be addressed can be accessed here.
• Budget adjustment must not be achieved by cuts alone
• New 'universal social contribution' must not hit the poor
• Tax credits can be made refundable for €140m
• Tax wedge rises in Ireland but still far below the OECD average
• Act Now on 2015 campaign to deliver Ireland's Overseas Development Aid promise supported by Social Justsice Ireland
• Full text of Bord Snip Nua Report Vol. 1 available here
• Full text of Bord Snip Nua Report Vol. 2 available here
• Full text of Commission on Taxation Report 2009 available here
•  Details of the Review Group on State Assets and Liabiliities established July 2010
•  Revised Estimates 2010
•  Department of Finance Exchequer Statements are available here.
• Text of ESRI publication - Recovery Scenarios for Ireland: an Update prepared by Bergin/Confrey/Fitz Gerald/Kearney is available here.
• Expert Group Report on resource allocation, financing and sustainability in health care 2010

Christmas and New Year Greetings from Social Justice Ireland

At the end of a tumultuous year Social Justice Ireland wishes all its members and supporters and all who visit this website a Happy Christmas and a Hope-filled and Peaceful New Year. The reflection below adapted from an old Gaelic prayer by Mary Rogers, seems sappropriate at this time.

Deep peace

Deep Peace of the running wave to you,

of water flowing, rising and falling,

sometimes advancing, sometimes receding.

May the stream of your life flow unimpeded.

Deep peace of the running wave to you!

Deep peace of the flowing air to you,

which fans your face on a sultry day,

the air which you breathe deeply, rhythmically,

which imparts to you energy, consciousness, life.

Deep peace of the flowing air to you!

Deep peace of the quiet earth to you,

who, herself unmoving, harbors the movements

and facilitates the life of the ten thousand creatures,

while resting contented, stable, tranquil.

Deep peace of the quiet earth to you!

Deep peace of the shining stars to you,

which stay invisible till darkness falls

and disclose their pure and shining presence

beaming down in compassion on our turning world.

Deep peace of the shining stars to you!

Deep peace of the watching shepherds to you,

of unpretentious folk who, watching and waiting,

spend long hours out on the hillside,

expecting in simplicity some Coming of the Lord.

Deep peace of the watching shepherd to you!

Deep peace of the Son of Peace to you,

who, swift as the wave and pervasive as the air,

quiet as the earth and shining like a star,

breathes into us His Peace and His Spirit.

Deep peace of the Son of Peace to you!

Mary Rogers, adapted from the Gaelic

Claiming Our Future - October 30, 2010

'Claiming our Future' is a civil society event to stake our claim to a future based on equality, inclusion, sustainability and human dignity.
Where: Industries Hall of the RDS in Dublin City
When: Saturday, 30th October (ALL-DAY)
A pdf version of this information may be downloaded here.
‘Claiming our Future’ is an event to stimulate the emergence of a cross sectoral community of interest and action for a more equal, inclusive and sustainable Ireland. We are organizing this event because we are deeply dissatisfied with the direction of Government policy in response to the economic recession. We do not accept that there is no alternative to these policies. There are choices to be made and civil society has a vital contribution to make in identifying and progressing new policy choices.
Earlier this year Is Feidir Linn, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, the Environmental Pillar of Social Partnership, the Community Platform, Social Justice Ireland and TASC began a series of meeting to explore how best to cooperate and coordinate endeavours for a more equal, inclusive and sustainable Ireland.

From these initial discussions a wider range of civil society organisations have begun to meet to organize this event. These organisations include trade unions, environmental groups, community groups, migrant worker organisations, youth groups, older people’s organisations, cultural groups, student groups, developing world groups, rural networks, Women’s organisations, disability groups, social media and social justice organisations.
We aim to have a thousand people at the event drawn from all parts of civil society and from all corners of Ireland. The event is planned to provide an opportunity to discuss and deliberate on:
» The values that we share and espouse.
» The implications of these values for new policy choices.
» New ways of cooperating and coordinating across civil society to advance these values and policy choices.
Local meetings and activities are being planned throughout the country in the lead up to this event. If you are interested in getting involved in the event and in the local initiatives please get in touch:
Co-ordinator: Brid Nolan  Tel: 01-8870726 Mob: 086 8474466
Address: O’Lehane House, 9 Cavendish Row, Dublin 1
Email: info@claimingourfuture.ie  Web: www.claimingourfuture.ie
 
 

Claiming Our Future - Reducing Income Inequality

The next national event being organised by 'Claiming Our Future' will address the issue of Income Inequality. It will be held in Galway on May 28th. This link provides more information and a link to the registration process. The event is free but advance registration is required.

Claiming Our Future is an initiative put together by Social Justice Ireland together with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, TASC, Is Feidir Linn, environmental organisations and the Community Plaatform in 2010. Further information on Claiming Our Future may be accessed here.
 

ESRI Quarterly Commentary voices major reservations concerning Government proposals for Budget 2011

The ESRI Quarterly Economic Commentary for Augumn, 2010 addresses some key issues concerning Ireland's situation in advance of the announcement of Budget 2011.

The ESRI expects that: 

1. GNP will contract by 1½ per cent this year. GDP will decline by ¼ per cent.
2. For 2011 GNP will grow by 2 per cent and GDP will grow by 2¼ per cent
3. Employment will average 1.86 million this year, down 68,000 from 2009, a fall of 3½ per cent. The rate of unemployment will average 13¼ per cent.
4. For 2011, the number employed will average 1.85 million and the rate of unemployment will average 13½ per cent.

Other conclusions from the ESRI QEC include:

1. In the year ending April 2010, the CSO recorded net outward migration to have been 34,500. This was well below the ESRI forecast of 70,000. The ESRI discusses how this figure of 34,500 seems to be a conservative estimate of the rate of outflow when compared with estimates of migration contained in another CSO publication, namely, the Quarterly National Household Survey. The ESRI expects the net outflow in the year ending April 2011 to be 60,000. This is an increase of 10,000 on their earlier forecast for the year ending April 2011.
2. The General Government Deficit is expected to be 31 per cent of GDP this year, a truly dramatic figure. Almost two-thirds of this is a one-off extraordinary item related to the banking bailout. For 2011, The ESRI expects the deficit to be 10 per cent of GDP, based on a budgetary package of €4 billion in savings.
3. In their General Assessment, the ESRI looks at the budgetary challenges facing the country and in particular at the prospects of bringing the deficit down to sustainable levels in a reasonable timeframe. Using the “Low Growth” profile as published by the ESRI in July 2010, they assess what level of savings will be required to achieve a deficit of 3% by 2014. Their calculations suggest that savings of up to €15 billion could be needed, i.e., twice the sum that was under discussion at the time Ireland and the Commission agreed to the 2014 deadline.
4. The ESRI expresses a concern over the potential negative impact on the economy of this scale of adjustment over this period of time.
5. While the 2014 date strikes the ESRI as worryingly ambitious, they are mindful that an extension is highly unlikely and so we must operate within the constraints as presented. Although they have based their forecasts on a budgetary package of €4 billion of savings, it could well be that a higher amount will be sought. Whatever it is, they conclude that the scale of the task is such that there will be a need for adjustments in current and capital spending and in taxation.
   

Economic crisis is also a crisis of ethics - Davos poll

More than two thirds of people believe the current economic crisis is also a crisis of ethics and values, according to a World Economic Forum (WEF) opinion poll. The poll draws on responses from more than 130,000 people from 10 G20 economies on Facebook. When asked to identify the values most important for the global political and economic system, almost 40% chose honesty, integrity and transparency; 24% chose others’ rights, dignity and views; 20% chose the impact of actions on the well-being of others and 17% chose preserving the environment.

The report concludes that: “As the current economic crisis has unfolded, it has become evident that the international financial architecture is in need of reform. It is also abundantly clear that the international system has been demonstrably underperforming relative to many of its core objectives, such as sustainable economic growth, poverty eradication, human security, promotion of shared values, conflict avoidance and many more. A more fundamental debate is needed on how global interdependence can be managed in a way that advances shared social, environmental and economic objectives and values if we are to foster the global cooperation necessary to confront contemporary challenges in an effective, inclusive and sustainable way.”
The full text of the report can be accessed here.

Eurostat finds Ireland's prices second highest in Europe

Prices in Ireland over 2008 were found to be the second highest in Europe. That’s the main finding of a Eurostat survey of consumer price levels in 2008 released earlier today. The figures are taken from a basket of goods including food, alcohol and tobacco, clothing, consumer electronics, personal transport equipment and hotels and dining out.

• Food in Ireland was the second most expensive in the EU (27% above the average), behind Denmark and just above Finland
• Alcohol and tobacco prices in Ireland were by far the most expensive in the EU - 84% above the average. Romania is the cheapest at 61% of the average.
• Clothing in Ireland was only at 91% of the EU average.

FULL TEXT of Social Justice Ireland's Briefing for Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Social Protection and Education

The full text of Social Justice Ireland's Briefing presented to the Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Social Protection and Education on Wednesday, November 30, 2011 may be accessed here.

Fall in risk of poverty highlights three key issues for Government in Budget 2010

 
The fall in the risk of poverty is very welcome. However it highlights three key issues for Government in Budget 2010:

1. Reducing social welfare rates will lead to increases in poverty
2. The working poor issue must be addressed
3. The regional differences in poverty are dramatic.

Social Justice Ireland has welcomed the reduction in Ireland’s poverty rate outlined in the CSO publication - Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) 2008 and claimed that the reduction vindicates the campaign conducted for many years to increase the lowest social welfare rates. The new statistics published by the Central Statistics Office show that without social welfare payments 43% of Ireland’s population would be in poverty. After social welfare payments are made that number is now down to 14.4%. In 2004 there were 19.4% in poverty.  The increases in social welfare rates in the intervening years made all the difference. These figures show clearly that if Government were to reduce welfare rates in Budget 2010 then poverty would increase and the most vulnerable in Irish society would suffer unnecessarily.
Social Justice Ireland pointed out that the CSO study shows that:

• 40% of all households at risk of poverty are headed by a person WITH a job (31.3% in 2007; 29.5% in 2006). These are the working poor. Government has failed to take the necessary initiatives to tackle this working poor issue.
• Almost half of all those at risk of poverty (47.8%) live in households headed by a person who is outside the labour force (i.e. people who are older or ill, or have a serious disability or are in caring roles). This highlights the need for Government to stop ignoring the ‘working poor’ issue and to put policies in place that ensure that people with jobs are not in poverty.
• There are huge regional disparities. While 10% of the population in Dublin and the Mid-East regions are at risk of poverty, the midlands has 23.5% of its population in poverty closely followed by the mid-west (22%) and the Western Region (17.2%). This highlights the need for Government to tackle the issue of poverty in the regions. The reduction in services in these areas is adding to the problems they face. Cutting services in Budget 2010 will worsen this situation further.
• These results draw attention to the need for Government to have a real anti-poverty focus in Budget 2010.

Social Justice Ireland noted that Government has said it is committed to protecting the most vulnerable in these difficult economic times. If it is to do this credibly then Social Justice Ireland now urges Government:

• Do not reduce social welfare rates in Budget 2010.
• Take initiatives to tackle the working poor issue, the rising level of unemployment and issues such as food poverty that were not addressed in Budget 2009.
• Take action to address the huge regional differences in poverty rates.

Social Justice Ireland has published detailed proposals for Budget 2010 which address these issues. This proposals can be accessed here.
 

GDP seen as a poor measure of progress by Nobel economists Stiglitz, Sen and others

Standard measures of economic performance must be overhauled to reflect “well-being” and to help policy-makers address financial instability and climate change according to a major new study prepared by a Commission headed by two Nobel laureates in economics, Joseph Stiglitz and Amartya Sen. 

The Report, prepared at the instigation of the President of France, Nicholas Sarkozy, cites many flaws in existing indicators and makes a wide range of proposals on choosing alternatives that would be better at measuring both economic performance and social progress.
This Report by the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress is the latest in a range of initiatives that have addressed the whole issue of what constitutes progress and how it should be measured.
The 22nd Social Policy Conference, organised by Social Justice Ireland, will address the whole question of progress and how it should be measured. It will be held on November 17, 2009 in Dublin and further information will be available on this site.
The Stiglitz/Sen Report is one of the most comprehensive assessments of the limitations of existing data. It also illustrates the scope that exists for improving policy and democratic debate based on good data relating to the issues – such as social cohesion, poverty and the environment – which people find important.
Too often, the Report notes, a narrow measure of market performance, such as gross domestic product (GDP), has been confused with broader measures of welfare. Consequently, the Report notes, governments often focus everything on increasing their GDP growth rate, treating it as an end in itself when it should not be.
This can lead to distortions of policy and unsustainable growth, as the financial crisis has vividly illustrated. It can also create perverse incentives and false trade-offs: for example, action to curb climate change may be seen as damaging to GDP when it may, in fact, be beneficial to the well-being of society.
The Irish Government, along with other Governments, need to abandon their obsession with gross domestic product. Instead they need to provide a much broader framework as a basis for both developing and implementing policy and provide the data necessary for citizens to assess policy success.  President Sarkozy stated that national accounting systems no longer reflect people’s aspirations, values or experiences – creating a source of distrust between citizens and governments. This is a conclusion long held and often articulated by Social Justice Ireland.
The Commission’s Report proposed three key new developments to ensure that real progress is being sought and measured:

• adjustments to the way GDP is calculated;
• new measures of well-being and happiness; and
• new indicators for environmental and financial sustainability.

Government must now make provision to reverse social welfare cuts

 
Government must now make provision to reverse the social welfare cuts introduced in Budget 2010 according to Social Justice Ireland. Given the Government’s huge investment in the rescue of delinquent banks announced today (March 30, 2010) and the welcome agreement with the Trade Unions to prioritise low-paid workers in the negotiations concluded over-night, it is now imperative that Government commit to roll back the savage cuts imposed on Ireland’s poorest people in Budget 2010.

Government used half truths and misrepresentations to justify the unfair and unjust choices it made in Budget 2010. Many of the reasons provided by Government Ministers, backbenchers and commentators to justify the damaging choices made were not based on fact. Fairness demands that a pathway towards restoring these cuts should now be set out and agreed by Government.
One example of a misrepresentation that was constantly repeated was that inflation had fallen by more than 6% in 2009 and therefore it was quite fair to cut social welfare rates for Ireland’s most vulnerable people by more than 4%. In fact, according to the Central Statistics Office inflation fell by 4.5% in 2009. However, when mortgage payments etc. are taken out of that calculation inflation (measured as the EU-Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices) fell by only 1.7% in 2009. A large majority of people depending on social welfare payments do not have mortgages so it is this 1.7% figure that should apply to them. 
However, Government’s ‘justification’ also ignores the fact that the Christmas bonus payment was not paid in 2009 and this in itself reduced the value of the payments by 2%.
If the Government provided the facts on this issue it would, in reality provide a justification for NOT reducing social welfare rates in Budget 2010. “Instead, the facts were misrepresented, to justify a deeply unjust series of actions; this is totally unacceptable”.
A Government committed to fairness would now set out a pathway to reverse the cuts in social welfare payments introduced unfairly in Budget 2010. A society is measured by the way it treats its poorest and most excluded people. At this moment Ireland’s poorest people remain the hardest hit by the unfair 2010 Budget.
 
 

Greetings for Christmas and New Year

As we draw to the end of a very eventful year we wish to thank all who helped, supported and encouraged us and we wish all our readers well in the year ahead. 

We are living in very eventful times. Decisions are being taken and choices being made that will have huge impacts on people individually, on Irish society generally and on the world community for a long time to come. 

We in Social Justice Ireland are doing all that we can to influence  those decisions and choices so that the world will move a little closer to being a place where human rights are respected, human dignity is protected, human development is facilitated and the environment is respected and protected.

We thank all those who support us on this journey. We look forward to continuing this journey together in the coming year.

Haiti's debt should be cancelled now - Oireachtas Committee supports call

As the dreadful reality of what is happening in Haiti receives extensive coverage in the media an even more shocking reality is not being reported for the most part: as aid flows in to Haiti's desperate communities, money is flowing out to pay off the country's crushing debt - close to $1 billion in unfair debt racked up years ago by unscrupulous lenders and governments. The Oireachtas (Parliamentary) Committee on Foreign Affairs has supported this call and Social Justice Ireland welcomes their initiative.

The call for full cancelation of Haiti's debt is being promoted across the world, and has won over some leaders; but other rich lender countries are rumoured to be resisting. G7 finance ministers hold their summit in Canada next week and are likely to discuss this issue.  

Even before the recent earthquake, Haiti was one of the world's poorest countries. After Haitian slaves rose up and won their independence in 1804, France demanded billions in reparations - launching a spiral of poverty and unjust debt that has lasted two centuries.

In recent years, the tremendous worldwide campaign for debt relief has awoken the world's conscience. And in the last few days, under mounting public pressure, lenders have begun to look at the possibility of doing the right thing i.e. erasing Haiti's still-devastating debt burden.

But the detail is important and lessons should be learned from recent experience. After the 2004 tsunami, the IMF announced relief from debt payments for stricken countries - but the underlying debt went right on growing. Once public attention had faded, the debt payments were bigger than ever.

It's time to cancel Haiti's debt fully and without conditions, and ensure that earthquake aid is made with grants, not loans. This approach would ensure change in people’s lives in Haiti even after the world's attention has moved on.
 
Having made this call for Haiti's debt to be cancelled Social Justice Ireland welcomes the action of the Oireachtas (Parliamentary) Committee on Foreign Affairs in calling for the same outcome.  The newsrelease from the Committee is reproduced in full below.
 
This issue should now be pursued by the  Ministerfor Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Finance in the relevant international arenas.
 

HOUSES OF THE OIREACHTAS
MEDIA RELEASE

Haiti’s $800 Million International Debt Must be Written Off-Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee

27th Jan 2010

All outstanding loans owed by Haiti must be cancelled and any money lent to the country to aid its reconstruction must be in the form of grants rather than loans the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs has insisted today.

The Committee met today with representatives from some of the Irish aid agencies currently operating in Haiti and were given the up to date picture of the situation on the ground in the country. One of the key aspects to emerge at the meeting was the need to sustain support for Haiti in the long term and assist with its future redevelopment and not only with immediate humanitarian needs.

One significant contribution to this would be to cancel its outstanding debt.

Committee Chairman, Dr Michael Woods TD said;
“The Committee unanimously endorses the call for all Haiti’s international debt to be written off immediately and ensure that any disaster relief assistance is provided in the form of grants rather than loans.

In June 2009, Haiti secured $1.2 billion debt cancellation from its major creditors when it reached completion point in the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative. This was a critical step forward. But even after this cancellation, Haiti remains burdened with a debt of over $800 million.

More than half of this debt is owed to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Inter American Development Bank (IDB). Haiti is projected to pay at leastd $100 million in debt payments over the next five years unless this debt is cancelled. If Haiti is compelled to pay this money it would seriously hinder its prospects of recovery from the devastating effects of the earthquake, so we feel the debt must be wiped out.

The Committee also commended the Irish people for their overwhelming generosity in contributing to the disaster relief fund.”

ENDS
Daniel English
Oireachtas Communications Unit
01 618 4484
   087 6949926

Membership of Committee
Michael Woods TD, Fianna Fáil (Chairman)
Rory O'Hanlon TD, Fianna Fáil (Vice Chairman)
Darragh O'Brien TD, Fianna Fáil
John Deasy TD, Fine Gael
Michael D Higgins TD, Labour Party
M.J. Nolan TD, Fianna Fáil
Michael Noonan TD, Fine Gael
Frank Fahey TD, Fianna Fáil
Noel O'Flynn TD, Fianna Fáil
Alan Shatter TD, Fine Gael
Billy Timmins TD,Fine Gael
Sean Ardagh TD, Fianna Fáil
Senator Ivor Callely, Fianna Fáil
Senator Maurice Cummins, Fine Gael
Senator Mark Daly, Fianna Fáil
Senator Dominic Hannigan, Labour Party
Senator David Norris, Independent

Ireland should re-commit to overseas aid target for 2012

 
Social Justice Ireland  believes that Ireland’s overseas aid budget should not be reduced any further. In the context of Ireland’s current challenges it is important to bear in mind that many people in the world are in a far worse situation and have been in this situation for a very long time. Ireland and other countries in the better-off part of the world should not abandon the world’s poorest at this crucial time.

One of the major cuts in Ireland’s second Budget of 2009 was that delivered to the overseas aid budget. It was cut by €100 million, adding to a cut in January 2009 of €95 million.
The Irish Government made a commitment to reach a target of spending 0.7% of our national income on overseas aid by 2012.  That's just 70 cent in every €100. This is now unlikely to be reached. Social Justice Ireland strongly urges Ireland's Government to recommit to reaching the overseas aid target by 2012
In 2009, Ireland will give €696 million in overseas aid; an amount equivalent to 0.48% of GNP. Social Justice Ireland considers these cuts to be shameful. They are so embarrassing to the Government that the Minister for Finance did not mention them in his Budget speeches. Indeed, the Budget documentation published with the April 2009 Budget, while mentioning the cut, failed to address its implications for the commitment Government has made in the White Paper on ODA. The impact of these cuts will be felt among the poorest people on this planet; those struggling to survive on less than $1 a day in the over 100 countries that Ireland assists.
Social Justice Ireland believes that the international community needs to play a more active role in assisting less developed countries achieve these goals. Central to this will be the provision of additional financial support.
In response to the huge problems faced by the world’s poorest people the UN Millennium Declaration was adopted in 2000 at the largest-ever gathering of heads of state. It committed countries - both rich and poor - to doing all they can to eradicate poverty, promote human dignity and equality and achieve peace, democracy and environmental sustainability. World leaders promised to work together to meet concrete targets for advancing development and reducing poverty by 2015 or earlier. Emanating from the Millennium Declaration, a set of Millennium Development Goals was agreed. These bind countries to do more in the attack on inadequate incomes, widespread hunger, gender inequality, environmental deterioration and lack of education, health care and clean water. They also include actions to reduce debt and increase aid, trade and technology transfers to poor countries. These goals and their related targets are:
Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Target 1: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day.
Target 2: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger.
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
Target 3: Ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling.
Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
Target 4: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005 and in all levels of education no later than 2015.
Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
Target 5: Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under five mortality rate.
Goal 5: Improve maternal health
Target 6: Reduce by three-quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio.
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
Target 7: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Target 8: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases.
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
Target 9: Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes and reverse the loss of environmental resources.
Target 10: Halve by 2015 the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water.
Target 11: Have achieved by 2020 a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers.
Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development
Target 12: Develop further an open, rule based, predictable, non-discriminatory trading and financial system (includes a commitment to good governance, development, and poverty reduction—both nationally and internationally).
Target 13: Address the special needs of the least developed countries (includes tariff- and quota free access for exports, enhanced program of debt relief for and cancellation of official bilateral debt, and more generous official development assistance for countries committed to poverty reduction).
Target 14: Address the special needs of landlocked countries and small island developing states (through the Program of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States and 22nd General Assembly provisions).
Target 15: Deal comprehensively with the debt problems of developing countries through national and international measures in order to make debt sustainable in the long term
Target 16: In cooperation with developing countries, develop and implement strategies for decent and productive work for youth.
Target 17: In cooperation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable essential drugs in developing countries.
Target 18: In cooperation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications technologies. (UNDP, 2003: 1-3)
Poverty and its associated implications remains the root cause of regional conflicts and civil wars in many of these poor countries. States and societies that are poor are prone to conflict. It is very difficult for governments to govern adequately when their people cannot afford to pay taxes, and industry and trade are almost nonexistent. Poverty is also a major cause of environmental degradation. Large-scale food shortages, migration and conflicts lead to environmental pressures.
Clearly poverty in the southern world threatens the very survival of all peoples. It is the major injustice in a world that is not, as a unit, poor. Now more than ever, as Ireland becomes more prosperous, the Irish government must exercise its voice within the European Union and in world institutions to ensure that the elimination of poverty becomes the focus of all policy development.
The MDGs provide a unique opportunity for Governments, Churches, businesses and all other sectors in society to unite around targets for ending extreme poverty in our lifetime.
Even in the midst of global economic recession, the financial cost to achieve the MDGs remains very affordable. On average, the total cost to achieve the MDGs is €75 per person per year, until 2015, for each of the one billion people living in extreme poverty.  
Ireland should play a leading role in addressing this situation. A good starting point would be the ending of cuts in the overseas aid Budget and, instead, taking the steps necessary to reach the target of 0.7% of national income to be spent on overseas aid by 2012.
 

MA in Social Justice and Public Policy - next intake: Autumn 2011

This MA in Social Justice and Public Policy is a part-time, 2-year programme taught at All Hallows College whcih is a college within Dublin City University.  This programme is designed to give those wishing to engage with public policy from a social justice perspective the necessary academic background and skills to achieve their aims.

This programme addresses the needs of professionals drawn from many different sectors of society dealing with the theory,development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of public policy, across a wide range of issues, from a social justice perspective. 
The programme’s aim is to provide an understanding of and a capacity to engage with overarching and theoretical frameworks that underpin public policy development today. It will provide skills in areas such as advocacy, community organising and networking, media engagement, communication in the public forum, as well as in the capacity to
critique public policy from a range of perspectives. It will help students to understand the interplay of values and public policy so that they have the capacity to analyse and critique public policy on a wide range of issues from the
perspective of social justice and human rights. It will also address issues concerning civil society and social capital. All will be approached in a dedicated and practical manner.
Further information may be accessed here.

NAMA information published - September 16, 2009

 
The Government’s proposed National Asset Management Agency (Nama) will buy loans worth €77 billion at a discount of 30 per cent. The Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan told the Dáil that NAMA would pay approximately €54bn for loans it takes over from Irish banks. According to the Minister this amount is an estimate based on the long-term economic value of the assets against which the loans were secured.
According to the Minister for Finance the current market value of the loans was calculated on the basis that the value of property had fallen by 50% since the peak in 2007. This set the current value of the property at €47bn. The €7bn difference (i.e.€54bn – €47bn), according to the Minister, is the amount the property will have to increase in value over the coming years if the tax-payers investment is to break even.

The loans to be transferred by the various banks are as follows:
AIB - €24bn.
Bank of Ireland - €16bn.
Anglo Irish Bank - €28bn.
Irish Nationwide Building Society - €8bn
EBS - €1bn
These loans will be swapped for bonds from NAMA which the banks will be able to exchange for cash from the European Central Bank. 36 per cent of the assets to be taken over by NAMA are land, 28 per cent are development property and 36 per cent are commercial loans.
The Minister for Finance said the majority of loans will have been valued and transferred to NAMA by the middle of 2010.
 
The following documentation can be accessed here:
Outline of Proposed New Guarantee Scheme 
Supplementary Documentation on National Asset Management Agency September 16, 2009
Speech by Minister for Finance on National Asset Management Agency Bill Second Stage Speech


 

OECD economist to address Social Justice Ireland's conference on Future of the Welfare State - September 21, 2010

Willem Adema, chief economist in the OECD's Social Policy Division will present a keynote paper at Social Justice Ireland's annual Social Policy Conference which will address the issue of The Future of the Welfare State. The conference will be held at the Tara Towers Hotel in Dublin 4 on Tuesday, September 21, 2010. Adema's paper will present new data analysing the real cost of the welfare state and how good it is in reducing poverty. The data covers a wide range of OECD countries including Ireland.

The future of the welfare state has been a topic of discussion and argument for more than 30 years on issues ranging from education to employment, from healthcare to social housing, from welfare rates to pensions to provision for people with disability. Some have claimed it cannot survive because the population is aging. Others have argued that globalisation will undermine it in due course. Recent economic upheavals and huge budget cutbacks in many countries have added to these questions What is its purpose? Can it be afforded? Is it a progressive concept? What, if anything, should it guarantee? What are the major challenges the welfare state faces in the years ahead? How do Ireland's politicians propose to address these challenges? These are just some of the questions this conference will address. Further information and a registration form in pdf format are available here.
Details of conference
Date:                               Tuesday, September 21st, 2010
Registration:                       9.15 a.m.
Conference:                      9.45—5.00 p.m.
Venue:                             Tara Towers Hotel,
                                        Dublin, Ireland.
 
Conference Chairperson:     Ingrid Miley
 
Conference Fee:               €75
-          Members of Social Justice Ireland: €50
 
Advance booking is essential.
 
If you wish to register please download, complete and return Application Form (below and available here in pdf format) with fee to:
Social Justice Ireland, Arena House, Arena Road, Sandyford, Dublin 18, Ireland
 
Conference Papers
Paper One: The future of the welfare state – an overview 
            Speaker: Tony Fahey (Professor of Social Policy, UCD)
 
Paper Two: The welfare state across selected OECD countries: How much   
does it really cost and how good is it in reducing poverty?
Speaker: Willem Adema (Senior economist in the OECD Social Policy Division)
           
Paper Three: Shaping Public Policy: Is there a place for values-led debate and
discourse in the public sphere.

Speaker: Daniel O’Connell (Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick)
 
Paper Four: Shaping the future of the welfare state – What are the
challenges and how might they be addressed?  
Speakers: Seán Healy and Brigid Reynolds (Social Justice Ireland)
 
Political Round Table
 
How do political parties in Leinster House propose to
address the challenges facing the welfare state?
This question will be addressed by speakers representing:
Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Labour, the Green Party and Sinn Fein.
 
APPLICATION FORM
 
Name: ________________________________________________
 
Address: ______________________________________________
 
______________________________________________________
 
______________________________________________________
 
Telephone No: ______________________   

 
Email address: _______________________
 
Dietary requirements:
 
Vegetarian:  _________________
 
Other, please specify: _________
 
Fee enclosed  (Please tick as appropriate)
Full conference fee: €75   [  ]
 
Fee for Social Justice Ireland Members:      €50   [   ]
 

Policy Issues: A large volume of material is available on this site on a wide range of policy issues

A large volume of material is available on this site on a wide range of policy issues. Some of this material can be accessed through the links below (listed in alphabetical order):

• Africa
• Bailout Agreement 2011-2015
• Banking Crisis
• Basic Income
• Carers
• Civil Society
• Climate Change
• Department of Finance
• Developing World
• EU
• Economic Crisis
• Economic Forecasts
• Economic Statistics
• Education
• Environment
• Euro
• Family
• Fiscal Policy
• Governance
• Governmemt
• Health
• Housing and Accommodation
• Human Rights
• Income Distribution and Poverty
• Inequality
• Migration and Intercultural Issues
• NAMA - National Asset Management Agency
• Narrative on Ireland
• Participation
• Pensions
• Population
• Poverty and Income Distribution
• Public Services
• Rural Development
• Social Justice
• Sustainability
• Taxation
• The Developing World
• Values
• Wellbeing
• Work

Policy conference to address the issue of sharing responsibility fairly - September 14, 2011

The topic for this year‘s Social Policy Conference, organized by Social Justice Ireland, will be Sharing Responsibility in Shaping the Future.The conference will be held on September 14, 2011 in Dublin.  Don't forget to put the date in your diary.
Questions concerning responsibility have been hotly discussed in recent times, particularly following the socialisation of bank debts.
Why should those who had no part in the decisions made by banks and others, now have to take responsibility for the consequences of dangerous and sometimes illegal activities of those who played a central role?
The issue of responsibility goes far beyond these events of recent years. The world faces many challenges ranging from pandemics to environmental devastation, from nuclear annihilation to mass migration of displaced people and many others.
How can people ensure  

• their voice is really heard?
• they have a real voice in shaping the decisions that affect them?
• future generations are protected?

Why should responsibility be shared?
How can responsibility be shared in a real and meaningful manner at local, national and international levels?
These and many related questions will be addressed by an international and national panel of speakers at this Social Policy Conference.
Ingrid Miley of RTE will chair the conference.
DATE: SEPTEMBER 14. Put it in your diary now.
Details will be published on this website in late August.
 

Seán Healy and Brigid Reynolds to head Social Justice Ireland

 Fr Seán Healy, S.M.A. and Sr Brigid Reynolds, S.M. are to lead Social Justice Ireland.   This organisation will take over the programmes and projects run in recent decades by CORI Justice including its social partnership role.

The work of CORI Justice has developed in recent years to involve many local groups and individuals throughout Ireland. The establishment of Social Justice Ireland is a logical step to reflect this broader involvement beyond the members of religious congregations. The new structure will reflect this development and will consolidate the work across the various categories of activity into the future.
The new organisation has the support of religious and lay people throughout Ireland. It describes itself as “working to build a just society where human rights are respected, human dignity is protected, human development is facilitated and the environment is respected and protected.”

Both Seán Healy and Brigid Reynolds have worked for more than a quarter of a century for CORI Justice and its predecessor the CORI Justice Commission
Membership of Social Justice Ireland is open to individuals (religious and lay) and to groups (organisations and congregations etc.) who support the basic thrust of the values and work that form the core of Social Justice Ireland.
Further information on the new organisation is available on this website.
 

Social Justice Ireland - Conference on the Future of the Welfare State

On September 21, Social Justice Ireland’s annual Social Policy Conference will address the Future of the Welfare State. This has been a topic of discussion and argument for more than 30 years on issues ranging from education to employment, from healthcare to social housing, from welfare rates to pensions to provision for people with disability. Some have claimed it cannot survive because the population is aging. Others have argued that globalisation will undermine it in due course. Recent economic upheavals and huge budget cutbacks in many countries have added to the questions faced by the welfare state. Is the welfare state really under threat? Has the era of the welfare state passed? Will people continue to support it? What are the major challenges faced by the welfare state at this time? Can the necessary funding be provided? If the welfare state is to survive how should it adjust to the changing economic situation? What are the implications of demographic developments? Can the nation state continue to be the basis for this kind of development model, this kind of social contract?

In these economically turbulent times it is essential to focus on the shape of the society we wish to see emerge. The welfare state has been in existence in Ireland for about a century. Do we wish to see it continue? If so, what form should it take? What are the key challenges it faces in Ireland? How might these be addressed effectively and efficiently?  Should people’s expectations of the welfare state change? How do Ireland’s elected politicians propose to address these major challenges? This policy conference will address these and related questions from a variety of perspectives. More information next week.
 
Date:                                       Tuesday, September 21st, 2010
Registration:                          9.15 a.m.
Conference:                           9.45—5.00 p.m.
Venue:                                    Tara Towers Hotel,
                                                Dublin, Ireland.
 
For further information check website at: http://www.socialjustice.ie/
Social Justice Ireland can be contacted at 01-213 0724.

Social Justice Ireland challenges politicians and voters to abandon false assumptions and faulty social analysis

In its General Election Briefing Social Justice Ireland has argued that a new approach is required of politicians and voters if Ireland is to stop its pattern of crashing every thirty. Every thirty years or thereabouts since independence, Ireland has had major crises. In the 1920s, 1950s, 1980s and again in the current decade there have been major upheavals and on each occasion the very viability of the state was questioned according to Social Justice Ireland.

• Renegotiate the EU/IMF Bailout to achieve these four outcomes:
• -   to reduce the interest rate being paid;
• -   to lengthen the period by which the fiscal 3% target is met;
• -   to divide the ‘hit’ in a fairer manner and
• -   to generate jobs (cf, page 6 of Election Briefing).
• Raise Ireland’s total tax-take in a fair and equitable manner while keeping Ireland a low-tax economy (i.e. below 35% of GDP which is the cut-off level provided by Eurostat for a low-tax economy)? This is the minimum required so that adequate services can be provided (cf. page 6 of Election Briefing).
• Reverse the impact of policies since 1987 which have increased the income of the richest 10% and widened the gap between these and the rest of society (cf. page 4 of Election Briefing).
• Address poverty by:
  
  • -   Increasing jobs
  • -   Providing programmes for unemployed people, especially the 140,000 long-term unemployed
  • -   Making tax credits refundable to address the working poor issue and
  • Maintain the value of social welfare rates (cf. page 4 of Election Briefing).

• Regulate banks effectively and ensure credit is available for SMEs.
• Develop a programme setting out how services and infrastructure in areas such as education, healthcare, social welfare, broadband, public transport and social housing are to be brought up to EU-average levels (cf. page 4 of Election Briefing).
• Make all public governance transparent and accountable.
• Increase Ireland’s Third World Aid budget to 0.7% of GNP by 2015 as already promised (cf. pages 5/6 of Election Briefing).
• Develop social dialogue between government and various sectors of society (cf. page 6 of Election Briefing).
• Introduce shadow national accounts as a means of ensuring policies are sustainable and the environment is protected (cf. page 6 of Election Briefing).

Social Justice Ireland meets IMF, ECB and EC on Ireland's Bailout

At a  one and a half hour-long meeting in Dublin with the ‘Troika’ team from the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission on Monday, July 11, 2011, Social Justice Ireland argued that Ireland’s Bailout Agreement was a process which in reality is dispossessing poor and vulnerable people of their meagre resources so as to re-pay those banks, financial institutions and others who gambled recklessly, invested unwisely and were paid premium interest rates to do so but lost their gamble.  

The Social Justice Ireland delegation told the ‘troika’ that “an updated Memorandum of Understanding is required which would achieve economic growth and financial stability while securing REAL protection of poor and vulnerable people.

Social Justice Ireland stated that the European Central Bank and the European Commission both played a role in the decisions that caused Ireland’s problems. Now, however, these institutions refuse to accept their share of responsibility. Instead, they insist that people who played no role in these decisions (i.e. Ireland’s poor and vulnerable) must pay in full to reimburse these institutions.  This is a profoundly immoral process.

*   At a macro level the Bailout Agreement requires too big a set of changes with harsh consequences and it seeks to achieve these at too fast a pace. These factors are combining to undermine economic growth and, in turn, undermine any potential for recovery. In essence, the adjustments being imposed would require the economy to record Celtic Tiger growth rates to have any prospect of recovery, job creation etc. This is not credible given where Ireland and the EU/World economy is currently and is likely to be in the years immediately ahead.

*   The scale of the challenge for 2012, for example, serves to illustrate this point. In 2012 adjustments of €3.6bn are required together with a growth rate of 2%. In practice this means that all of the following must be achieved:

• The economy must grow enough to make up the €3.6bn
• Beyond that it must grow to finance the multiplier effect of the removal of €3.6bn which brings the total required to about €4bn.
• On top of this the economy must then grow by 2% which is over €3bn. So, underlying growth would need to be over €7bn in 2012 to achieve 2% growth. This is an underlying growth rate of almost 5% of GDP. 
• All of this must be achieved without any new investment programme of scale.

*   Conditions are being honoured and benchmarks on a wide range of issues are being met by the Irish Government and Ireland’s citizens. 

*   Benchmarks on banks and fiscal issues set out in the Memorandum of Understanding are being met.

*   However, the promised outcomes are not materialising. For example:

• Economic growth is not reaching the forecast targets.
• Jobs are not being created on the scale required.
• Unemployment is not falling at the rate envisaged.
• Finance is not available on the scale required for small and medium enterprises.
• Essential services are being reduced to such an extent that the health and wellbeing of citizens is being put at risk.  
• The Community and Voluntary sector, often the place of last resort for many vulnerable people, has seen a huge increase in demand for its services. At the same time its funding has been reduced dramatically.

*   A revised Memorandum of Understanding is urgently required which would achieve economic growth and financial stability while securing real protection of poor and vulnerable people. 

*   Social Justice Ireland presented detailed proposals on issues such as poverty and income distribution, employment and job creation, securing finance for small and medium enterprises, unemployment and labour market activation, adult literacy and a wide range of public services.

*   They also argued for a fairer sharing of responsibility which, among other things would ensure:

• Poor and vulnerable people would be protected, and
• The ECB and the EC both accept their share of responsibility for the current situation and consequently accept their fair share of the cost of adjustment.
• A 16-page note provided to the troika by Social Justice Ireland at their meeting may be accessed here.

Social Justice Ireland's Analysis and Critique of Budget 2011

Social Justice Ireland will publish a detailed Analysis and Critique of Budget 2011 at noon today, December 8th, 2010. 
This publication will analyse the choices made by Government and critique their impact on Irish people and on the Irish economy. 
The Analysis and Critique will provide detailed analysis of the impact of this budget and of the cumulative impact of budgets over the past quarter of a century on a range of groups across Irish society. 
It will have dedicated sections on specific issues including: taxation, social welfare, expenditure cuts, health, education, public services, environment, rural development, housing, third world aid. 
This Analysis and Critique will identify alternatives that Government could have followed while maintaining a fiscally responsible approach.  It will also address a wide range of related issues.
The Analysis and Critique will be available on this site from noon on today December 8th, 2010.

Social Policy Conference to address Sharing Responsibility in Shaping the Future - September 14, 2011 - REGISTER NOW

Social Justice Ireland's annual Social Policy Conference will address the issue of Sharing responsibility in Shaping the Future.  This one-day conference will be held in Duiblin on September 14, 2011 and will be addressed by a distinguished list of international and national speakers.
Questions concerning responsibility have been widely debated in recent times. Among these are questions on why ordinary people who had no part in the decisions made by banks and other institutions that caused the current series of crises, now have to take responsibility for the consequences of dangerous and sometimes illegal activities of those who played a central role?

The issue of responsibility goes even further. Following from recent crises people’s rights are at risk as are social protection, the welfare state and democracy itself. This situation is exacerbated by many other challenges facing the world today ranging from pandemics to environmental devastation, from nuclear annihilation to mass migration of displaced people.

• Why should responsibility be shared?
• How can responsibility be shared in a real and meaningful manner at local, national and international levels?
• How can people ensure their voice is really heard or that future generations are protected?

Registration:                          9.15 a.m.

Conference:                           9.45—5.00 p.m.

Venue:                                   Tara Towers Hotel, Dublin, Ireland.

Conference Papers

1. The Council of Europe’s proposed new Charter on Shared Social Responsibilities Speaker: Gilda Farrell (Head of Social Cohesion Research and Development Division, Council of Europe)

2. Riot of Consumerism: The Urgent Need for Shared Social Responsibility  Speaker: Mark Davis (Director of the Bauman Institute, University of Leeds

3. Sharing Responsibility in shaping the future – a business perspective  Speaker: Danny McCoy (Director General, IBEC)

4. Sharing Responsibility in shaping the future – a trade union perspective   Speaker: David Begg (General Secretary, ICTU)

5. Sharing responsibility for future generations   Speaker: Mary Cunningham (CEO, National Youth Council of Ireland)

6. Sharing Responsibility– an environmental perspective   Speaker: Michael Ewing (Coordinator, Irish Environmental Network)

7. Sharing Responsibility in shaping the future – Public Services   Speaker: Ivan Cooper (Director of Advocacy, The Wheel)

8. Sharing Responsibility in shaping the future – Why and How?   Speakers: Seán Healy and Brigid Reynolds (Directors, Social Justice Ireland
   

__________________________________

Telephone No: ______________________   

 

Email address: ______________________

 

Dietary requirements:

 

Vegetarian:  _________________

 

Other, please specify: _________

 

Conference fee enclosed:  €75 

Social Justice Ireland members:  €50 

 

SPECIAL OFFER FOR THOSE WHO ARE NOT MEMBERS OF SOCIAL JUSTICE IRELAND

This offer covers:

·         Attendance at the Social Policy Conference on September 14, 2011,

·         Membership of Social Justice Ireland until the end of 2012

·         Associated benefits for the period to the end of 2012.

 

Individual Membership (Basic Package) plus attendance at Social Policy Conference on September 14, 2011:      €100 [    ]

As well as attendance at the Social Policy Conference on September 14, 2011 this entitles a member to regular newsletters and all other publications (made available electronically) from Social Justice Ireland. It will also entitle members to reduced rates for other conferences and seminars organised by Social Justice Ireland.

 

Individual Membership (Enhanced Package) plus attendance at Social Policy Conference on September 14, 2011:     €130 [    ]This entitles a member to regular newsletters and the printed versions of all other publications from Social Justice Ireland. These include the annual Socio-Economic Review, the annual Social Policy book, all Policy Briefings and the Analysis and Critique of each Government Budget. It will also entitle members to reduced rates for the conferences and seminars organised by Social Justice Ireland.

 

You may also avail of either of these offers by printing and completing this page and returning it together with your cheque to:

Social Justice Ireland, Arena House, Arena Road, Sandyford, Dublin 18.

Please tick membership option above as appropriate.

Name: _______________________________________________________________

Address: _____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

Email: _______________________             Telephone: _______________________

 

Submission to the Commission on Taxation presented by Sean Healy and Brigid Reynolds

 

• Smoke pollution in Dublin, Cork and Limerick has decreased significantly since the introduction of legal restrictions on the sale of non-smokeless coals. All three cities now record pollution levels well below the EU limits. Dublin achieved this in 1993, Limerick in 1998 and Cork in 2002.
• The number of private cars in Ireland per 1,000 people aged 15 and over has increased from 364 in 1995 to 507 in 2005. The EU-25 average is 553 cars per 1,000 population (15 years +).
• The volume of road traffic in Ireland has already risen to those levels predicted for 2010.
• In 1995 90.1 per cent of all inland freight was transported by road. This increased to 98.3 per cent in 2005, 21.8 per cent higher than the EU-27 average.
• There are over 717,000 hectares of forestry in Ireland. This has increased by 49 per cent since 1990.
• In 2005 trees removed 811 kilotonnes of CO₂ from the Irish atmosphere while road vehicles created 12,454 kilotonnes.
• The quantity of “acid-rain” decreased by 25 per cent between 1990 and 2004.
• Imported oil and gas accounts for 73 per cent of Ireland’s energy supply.
• Renewable energy only provides 4-5 per cent of Ireland’s electricity generation needs.
• In 2005, 40.6 per cent of Ireland’s energy demands derived from transport, 23 per cent from residential households, 20 per cent from industry, 2.6 per cent from agriculture, and 13.9 per cent from the service sector.
• Household and commercial waste has increased by over 21 per cent in volume between 2001 and 2005. Currently Ireland produces almost 2.8 million tonnes of waste each year. The EPA report notes that this level has more than doubled since 1995 and is more than 3.25 times the level recorded in 1985.

Source: EPA (2007 and 2008).

• The Commission should propose a set of new procedures which would be adopted by the Department of Finance when proposing the introduction of any new tax expenditure. Principally, these should involve a detailed internal evaluation of the costs and benefits of each new scheme. The lifetime costs of most of these schemes will run into many millions of euro and expenditure on this scale deserves detailed evaluation. These considerations should also include examination of the direct expenditure alternative.
• The Commission should review the adequacy of the new procedures adopted by the Revenue Commissioners, as required by Budget 2006, such that they are able to collect and provide accurate data on the scale and distribution of all tax expenditures.
• The Commission should recommend that each new or renewed tax expenditure should also be poverty proofed to establish the impact that its introduction will have on the income distribution, the level of median income and poverty rates.
• In our view many tax expenditures, in particular those giving relief to construction costs, offer/offered levels of relief that seem to have been chosen arbitrarily. For example, in the case of Section 23 relief we are unclear as to how the various relief levels offered were established and justified by the Department of Finance. Furthermore, it remains unclear to us why the same development could not have been achieved as a result of offering a considerably lower level of relief, one that was provided at a lesser cost to the exchequer. Some further insight into this issue from the Commission would be welcome.
• CORI Justice believes that discretionary tax expenditures are an inappropriate means of achieving policy objectives. In general these expenditures are neither efficient nor fair – we address this point in more detail below.
• The inequity in the distribution of pension contribution reliefs is of concern. The latest data available shows between two thirds and three quarters of the tax reliefs accruing to the top 20 per cent of earners. This situation should be fundamentally changed. CORI Justice believes that there should be a universal state pension in Ireland and the additional funding required to finance this approach could be provided by reducing the reliefs for private pensions.[17]
• CORI Justice believes that the Commission on Taxation should recommend that the Minister for Finance introduce a new law limiting the number of tax reliefs any one individual may avail of in each tax year. A limit of 5 would seem appropriate. Similarly, it should recommend that a new law limiting the value of tax reliefs any one individual may avail of in each tax year. An index linked limit of €250,000 per annum would seem more than generous.
• We believe that the Commission on Taxation should give extensive consideration to the complexity of the tax expenditure/relief system. Estimates from the Irish Taxation Institute, among others, highlight the large number and value of these reliefs not being taken up by individual taxpayers. The complexity and inaccessibility of the current system has to play a part in this problem – a drive for simplicity should accompany a drive for enhanced fairness.

• The person entitled to the credit could apply for it to the Revenue Commissioners at the end of the year

• They could be given the option of requesting that their tax credit be paid directly e.g. into their bank account, by the Department of Social and Family Affairs (DSFA); in these cases employers would not subtract the tax credit from the gross tax liability of these people. Instead, the DSFA would supply them with a book of payments (as is done with Child Benefit payments at present). [In this situation it is important to point out that nobody on social welfare would see their income increase through receipt of a refundable tax credit. In a situation where they were receiving such a credit their social welfare payment would be reduced by the value of the tax credit].

• They should be 21-64 years of age. (The refundable tax credit could also be made available for people over 65+ depending on what funding Government made available)

• They should be currently working for at least 12 months, for the equivalent of at least 8 hours per week, as evidenced by tax/PRSI returns.

• Make tax credits refundable.

• Continue to adjust tax credits so that the minimum wage remains out of the tax net.

• Convert the childcare supplement into a refundable tax credit payable for all children irrespective of the labour force status of their parents.

• Ensure that individualisation in the income tax system is done in a fair and equitable manner.

• Ensure that changes in the income-tax system benefit those on low to middle incomes as much as they benefit the better off in cash terms.

• Begin to monitor and report income tax levels in terms of effective tax rates.

• Poverty-proof all budget tax packages to ensure that tax changes do not further widen the gap between those with low income and the better off.

• Standard rate all discretionary tax expenditures.

• Increase the rate of capital gains tax from 20 to 25 per cent.

• Introduce a windfall tax on the profits generated from all land rezonings.

• Move to negotiate an EU wide agreement on minimum corporate taxation rates (a rate of 17.5% would seem fair in this situation).

• Put in place procedures within the Department of Finance and the Revenue Commissioners to monitor on an ongoing basis the cost and benefits of all current and new tax expenditures.

• Ensure that the distribution of all changes in indirect taxes discriminate positively in favour of those with lower incomes.

• Move decisively to shift the burden of taxation from income tax to eco-taxes on the consumption of fuel and fertilisers, as well as on the disposal of waste. In doing this, government should ensure that the impact of this on people with low incomes should not be negative.

• Introduce carbon and environmental taxes and investigate the Cap and Share approach.

• Develop policies which allow taxation on wealth to be increased.

• Investigate the possibility of introducing a tax on currency transactions such as the Tobin Tax.

• Investigate the possibility of introducing a site value tax. This, and the preceding proposal, could lead to substantial reductions in income tax.

• Adopt policies to simplify the taxation system.

The Big Swap - Fairtrade Fortnight - February 22-March 8, 2010

Fairtrade Ireland are asking people to join the BIG SWAP during Fairtrade Fortnight which, this year, runs from February 22 to March 8.  The basic idea of the campaign is that people will swap their usual tea or bananas or chocolate etc. for a Fairtrade version of the same item. Other items that can be swapped include confectionery, t-shirts and wine.  The big focus will be on tea.

Fairtrade Ireland is encouraging people to organise events in which people will swap their traditional tea or whatever for the Fairtrade version of the same item. Events they suggest people could organise include: Swap your Breakfast or Sway your Break or Lunch or Supper or Dinner etc. How to go about organising events such as these and to find out a great deal more about Fairtrade go to the Fairtrade Ireland website.

UN Day for the eradication of Poverty highlights challenges facing Government in Budget 2010 and beyond

October 17 is UN Day for the Eradication of Poverty.  In Ireland the build-up to this year's Day for the Eradication of Poverty has been dominated by statements from the Taoiseach and several Government ministers concerning the likely harsh impact of the decisions Government will make in Budget 2010 which is to be published on December 9, 2009.  Social Justice Ireland wishes to point out that as Ireland faces a range of interrelated crises:

• Ireland is not a poor country;
• Ireland’s total tax-take is one of the lowest in the developed world and continues to fall as a percentage of GDP and GNP;
• 15.8% of people are at risk of poverty with incomes below €12,000 for a single person or €28,000 for a family of four;
• 31% of all the households at risk of poverty today are headed by a person with a job. 
• A further 50% are headed by a person outside the labour force (i.e. older people and people who are ill, have a serious disability or are in caring roles) and are totally dependent on social welfare.
• It is both essential and possible to protect the vulnerable in the choices Government makes;

An integrated approach to tackling the country’s current problems is essential if they are to be addressed successfully. An integrated approach requires Government to

• Increase the over-all tax take while keeping Ireland a low-tax country and without raising income tax rates;
• Secure better value for money in the delivery of our public services;
• Reform the public sector;
• Target expenditure cuts where required but ensure that vulnerable people are protected. A good starting point would be the elimination of waste identified in the Comptroller and Auditor General’s recent report;
• Focus expenditure on the common good to provide required infrastructure and public services.

In practice giving priority to the vulnerable would mean:

• No cuts in social welfare rates;
• No cut in the minimum wage;
• Compensating those on lowest incomes for any increases in living costs associated with initiatives such as the introduction of a carbon tax;
• Giving priority in education to funding primary education;
• Giving priority in health to primary care teams;
• Giving priority in housing to social housing programmes;
• Giving priority to the unemployed, especially the long-term unemployed.
• Increasing the tax-take fairly.

On 22 December 1992, the UN General Assembly declared 17 October each year as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty and invited all States to devote the Day to presenting and promoting, as appropriate in the national context, concrete activities with regard to the eradication of poverty and destitution.
The observance of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty can be traced back to 17 October 1987. On that day, over a hundred thousand people gathered at the Trocadéro in Paris, where the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed in 1948, to honour the victims of poverty, violence and hunger. They proclaimed that poverty is a violation of human rights and affirmed the need to come together to ensure that these rights are respected. Since then, people of all backgrounds, beliefs and social origins have gathered every year on October 17 to renew their commitment and show their solidarity with the poor.
The Irish Government should mark this UN Day for the Eradication of Poverty by making a definitive commitment that all vulnerable people will be fully protected from any negative impacts following on initiatives taken in Budget 2010.
 

Vacancy for Research and Policy Analyst

Social Justice Ireland is recruiting a Research and Policy Analyst. The person appointed will be required to research, analyse and advise on public policy and will play a major role in developing and implementing Social Justice Ireland’s research and policy programme.

Welfare State may support only middle-class and better off people if present trends continue.

Poor people likely to lose out if the challenges facing the welfare state are not addressed comprehensively.   The Welfare State in the years ahead may support only middle-class and better off people.

Poor people and others who are vulnerable are likely to lose out ifthe challenges facing the welfare state are not addressed comprehensively.”

This was the claim made by Fr Seán Healy, S.M.A. and Sr Brigid Reynolds, S.M., Directors of Social Justice Ireland in a paper presented to a conference on The Future of the Welfare State today (Tuesday Sept. 21, 2010).   These concerns were mirrored in other papers presented to this conference.  

The papers presented at the conference and the full book containing these papers can all be accessed here.

• Professor Tony Fahey, Professor of Social Policy at UCD, argued that while the welfare state would continue in the future it could well be regressive rather than progressive. For example “’tax breaks for a social purpose’ are of benefit only to those earning taxable income and usually the more taxable income they earn, the greater the benefit they can derive from these measures.” Professor Fahey went on to point out that those who benefit from public support for “private health care, private pensions and owner-occupied housing, typically strive to maintain public subsidisation of those services through the tax system and resist attempts to reform such subsidies in a more progressive direction.”   Professor Fahey went on to argue that “the appeal of market solutions has been dented by the financial crisis and consequently the ground for a stronger public role in welfare distribution is more fertile than it has been for many decades.”

• Dr Willem Adema, Senior economist in the OECD Social Policy Division, analysed the impact of adding private expenditure, in areas such as education, health, pensions, unemployment and social housing to public expenditure in these areas. He found that countries such as the UK and the USA closed the gap on countries with a high public expenditure such as Sweden and Denmark, France and Germany. All of these spent more than the OECD average on the welfare state once private and public expenditure is included. Ireland, however, if far below the OECD average no matter how it is counted. Dr Adema also found that public expenditure is effective in reducing poverty and inequality, while private social expenditure has the opposite effect.

• The market economy does not want healthcare, education, social housing or social welfare to make too many demands on it.
• Middle classes may be reluctant to support redistribution even though they themselves benefit hugely from the welfare state.
• The fact that people are living longer is putting pressure on funding the welfare state.

• An increased percentage of GDP must be spent on these services
• Alternatives to raising taxes must be found to ensure the welfare state is developed in a way that is appropriate for the 21^st century.
• Disincentives to employment must be removed.

• Responsibility for delivering ‘well-being for all’, which should be the focus of the welfare state in the 21^st century, must be shared by individuals, institutions, society at large and governments.
• The economy must be seen as serving people not the other way around.
• Poor and/or vulnerable people suffered most in the current crisis. They had least responsibility for what happened. They must not be the ones to suffer most in the period ahead.

What are the facts on NAMA?

There is much contradictory and very confusing comment on what the facts really are concerning NAMA.  Here we list and link to a number of sources that readers may find of help as they try to discover the facts about NAMA.

Professor Karl Whelan, on The Irish Economy blog (access here), has listed six core facts.  These are:

1. NAMA will purchase loans from the banks with bonds backed by the Irish taxpayer.
2. The Irish government, in the form of NAMA, will be paying interest on these bonds to the Irish banks at an initial rate of approximately 1.5 pecent.
3. The ECB is not lending NAMA money at 1.5 percent.
4. The ECB is not lending NAMA money at all as to do so would violate the EU Treaty’s prohibition of monetary financing of government. (Click here and read Article 101.)
5. The ECB’s current operating rules mean that it will lend to any bank that has eligible collateral and government-backed bonds are eligible collateral
6. The taxpayer is contributing the money to pay for the NAMA assets because the taxpayer will have to pay the interest and the principle on these bonds.  

Wikipedia has an interesting and fairly understandable item which seeks to address what the facts about NAMA are. It can be accessed here. The first two sections are as follows: 
 
Background
As a result of the collapse of the Irish property market, Irish banks have property development loan assets secured on property with a market value significantly below the amount owed. Many of the loans are now non-performing due to debtors experiencing acute financial difficulties. Both factors have led to a sharp drop in the value of these loan assets.
If the banks were to recognise the true value of these loans on their balance sheets, they would no longer meet their statutory capital requirements. The banks therefore need to raise further capital but, given the uncertainty around the true value of their assets, their stock is in too little demand for a general share issuance to be a viable option.[6]
The banks are also suffering a liquidity crisis due, in part, to their lack of suitable collateral for European Central Bank repo loans. Along with their capital requirement problems, this is limiting the banks' ability to offer credit to their customers and, in turn, contributing to the lack of growth in the Irish economy.[7]
 
How NAMA will work
The National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009, in its present format, covers the six financial institutions which are covered by the Irish government's deposit guarantee scheme. Those institutions are Bank of Ireland, Allied Irish Banks, Anglo Irish Bank, EBS, Irish Life and Permanent and Irish Nationwide. Other institutions (such as Ulster Bank) which are not covered may choose to join the scheme.[8]
The Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan, said the banks would have to assume significant losses when the loans, largely made to property developers, are removed from their books. If such losses resulted in the banks needing more capital, then the government would insist on taking an equity stake in the lenders.[9] Economist Peter Bacon, who was appointed by the government to advise on solutions to the banking crisis, said the new agency had potential to bring a better economic solution to the banking crisis and was preferable to nationalising the banks.[10]
The assets will be purchased by using government bonds, which may lead to a significant increase in Ireland's gross national debt.[9]
The Bill provides that NAMA will be established on a statutory basis, as a separate body corporate with its own Board appointed by the Minister for Finance and with management services provided by the National Treasury Management Agency.[11] [12]
The Bill envisages that NAMA will arrange and supervise the identification and valuation of property-backed loans on the books of qualifying financial institutions in Ireland, but will delegate the purchase and management of these loans to a separately created Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV). [13]
 
The NAMA website can be accessed here.
 
Basic Questions and Answers on NAMA are provided by the Department of the Taoiseach here.
 
There is much interesting material on NAMA available on various blogs. Among those most worth checking out are:
 
Progressive-Economy@TASC
 
The Irish Economy
 
 

Will Hutton presentation on an alternative economic vision for Ireland

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions hosted a debate on May 12, 2010 featuring Will Hutton, well known economist and author from the UK. He spoke on An Alternative Economic Vision for Ireland.
A recording of the full debate can be accessed here.
The Irish Times report of his presentation (very truncated) can be accessed here.

€7billion gift to banks likely to undermine State’s finances and public services for years to come while failing to secure credit for businesses

Social Justice Ireland statement on NAMA and related issues.

Key Points in Statement:
Government’s approach to resolving the current fiscal and banking crisis is flawed because:
·        It may be over-valuing the assets being purchased;
·        It is providing an unnecessary gift of €7billion to the banks;
·        It is placing no obligation on the banks to give priority to supplying credit to businesses;
To redress these flaws Social Justice Ireland proposes that:
·        Government ensure nothing beyond their true current market value should be paid for the assets being purchased;
·        The additional €7bn should not be paid to the banks for these assets;
·        Government buy back the ICC Bank it sold some years ago and use it as the mechanism to address the credit problems being experienced by small and medium businesses.
 
Full Statement:
1.      Social Justice Ireland believes that the Government is putting the Irish tax-payer at unnecessary risk with its current proposals. The cost of the present proposals would damage Government finances for years to come, would damage the provision of social services and would damage the Irish tax-payer. 
2.      One of the key problems facing Government is the need to improve the flow of credit especially to small businesses across the country. A second and linked concern, according to Government, is the need to have a solvent and effectively-operating banking system. To tackle these issues it has developed the proposal to establish the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA).
3.      Government claims the current value of the assets being purchased by the State to be administered by NAMA is €47bn. There are doubts concerning this valuation. The real value may be less. Additional measures are required to ensure that these assets are not over-valued when bought by the State.
4.      Even if the €47bn valuation is accurate then the decision to pay the banks €54bn for these assets is, in effect, making a gift of €7bn to the banks. There is no justification whatsoever for paying this additional €7bn.
5.      Government is rightly concerned with the lack of credit being made available for small businesses across the country. In devising a strategy to address this problem Government is simply relying on Ireland’s two largest banks to give priority to supplying credit to businesses rather than seeking to improve their own balance sheets. This reliance is misplaced. Government’s proposals place no obligation on the banks to provide loans to small businesses once they are rescued at tax-payers expense.
6.      An effective way of ensuring credit was made available for small businesses would be for Government to buy back the ICC Bank it sold to Bank of Scotland (Ireland) some years ago. This was a bank focused specifically on providing credit to small businesses and it had a long track record of doing this successfully. Buying it back, which would cost the Government a very small percentage of what it is proposing to spend on NAMA, would provide Government with the required mechanism to address the credit problem being experienced by small and medium businesses.
7.      An additional problem identified by Government concerns the capitalisation of the country’s major banks. Government could buy these banks’ shares and incentivise the banks to buy them back, at a premium, within a specific time-period. If the banks failed to achieve this buy-back then the shares could be sold on the open market.
8.       If Government is going to persist with NAMA then the proposals outlined above would provide a much better framework for proceeding and would substantially reduce the likely damage in the years ahead. If it is proceeding with NAMA Government should also put effective mechanisms in place to ensure NAMA is appropriately monitored while its (NAMA) independence is secured and maintained.