The European Union faces many challenges in relation to healthcare, cost of housing and financial distress that will be further exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Ireland and the EU urgently need to develop substantial coordinated actions on these issues.
Social justice matters. That is why Social Justice Ireland publishes our annual socio-economic review. This book is about charting a course to a fairer Ireland. At the foundation of that is what…
Social Justice Ireland believes strongly in the importance of developing a rights-based approach to social, economic, environmental, and cultural policy. Such an approach would go a long way towards addressing the inequality Ireland has been experiencing and should be at the heart of the development model for a just society. We believe that the next Programme for Government should acknowledge and recognise seven economic, social and cultural rights.
The Government of the 33rd Dáil won’t be able to solve all Ireland's challenges in just five years, but making the right choices can go a long way to delivering a fairer society with a better standard of living for everyone. This is why the next Programme for Government must deliver on five key areas: a vibrant economy, decent services and infrastructure, just taxation, good governance and sustainability.
If a country is setting social, economic and environmental goals, it is important that taxation policy supports these goals. Ireland needs to have a real debate, not just about the levels of services and infrastructure it wishes to have in the coming decades, but also how these are to be financed. Just Taxation is one of the five key priority areas examined in Social Justice Matters: 2020 guide to a fairer Ireland. This report analyses ‘Just Taxation’ as one of five key priority areas required to build a fairer Ireland in an integrated and sustainable manner.
If a country is setting social and economic goals, it is important that taxation policy supports these goals. Ireland needs to have a real debate, not just about the levels of services and infrastructure it wishes to have in the coming decades, but also how these are to be financed. Read Social Justice Ireland's Election Briefing on Taxation for an outline of a number of key challenges facing Ireland and some policy proposals that should be in the next Programme for Government.
As a policy objective, Ireland can remain a low-tax economy, but not one incapable of adequately supporting necessary economic, social and infrastructural requirements. Our current low tax/low investment model is not sustainable and we regret that Budget 2020 did not take greater steps to address this.
Social Justice Ireland has repeatedly called for increased scrutiny of tax expenditures as part of the budgetary process. We regret that in Budget 2020, at a time when the Minister for Finance has made a point of repeatedly noting the scarcity of available resources, government has ignored a real opportunity to increase the total tax-take whilst making the tax system fairer.
What income changes arose from the tax and benefit measures taken in Budget 2020? What are the effective tax rates now for different levels of income, and how do they compare with effective rates over time? Click here to see.
Budget 2020 marks the fourth Budget of the current Government. Our analysis tracks the cumulative impact of changes to income taxation and welfare following all four of this Government’s Budgets.
