Social Justice Ireland's recent book entitled Basic Income: Radical Utopia or Practical Solution? has received an award for original work in Irish Fiscal Policy from Ireland's Foundation for Fiscal Studies, Fiscal.ie.
Budget Choices 2018 outlines Social Justice Ireland's fully costed expenditure and taxation proposals to deliver an economically sound and socially fair budget.
Budget 2018 should substantially increase investment in infrastructure such as social housing and rural broadband, should address major problems in services like healthcare and education, should support development of the economy by investing in affordable childcare while not generating any net reduction in taxation. These are the key recommendations of Social Justice Ireland's Budget Choices policy briefing which sets out fully-costed proposals on expenditure and taxation for Budget 2018.
Ireland is under-investing in key areas such as education, social housing and rural broadband. In order to deliver sustainable and inclusive growth public investment must be given priority in Budget 2018 and beyond. Most people want to see reductions in healthcare waiting lists, increases in social housing provision and reliable high-speed broadband across rural Ireland. To achieve this means there should be no net tax-cuts in Budget 2018.
Social Justice Ireland's detailed analysis of the impact of Budget 2017 on housing is available to download below.
Social Justice Ireland was invited to present our analysis of Budget 2017 and recommendations for Budget 2018 to the Oireachtas Committee on Budgetary Oversight.
Each year, on the day after the annual Budget is announced, Social Justice Ireland produces an analysis and critique of that Budget.
Budget 2017 yet again ignores the working poor. Although it contained a number of welcome initiatives, the working poor gain the least. The choices Government made in cutting the Universal Social Charge and income tax are unfair and provide larger gains to those on higher incomes compared to those on lower incomes.
Social Justice Ireland's Analysis and Critique of Budget 2017 is available to download below.
One hundred years after the 1916 Rising Ireland faces major choices that will shape its future for the decades ahead. The dominant economic approaches and policies which have been favoured in recent decades in Ireland, the EU and beyond have failed to recognise the interdependent relationships between a vibrant economy, social cohesion, good governance and sustainability that must characterise any society if it is to thrive in the long run. Yet recognition of this interdependency is critically important if we are to fulfil our obligations to future generations of Irish people and to the planet on which we depend for our existence.
