Madam, – The Government is discussing proposals whereby the national deficit can be reduced. For political reasons it is reluctant to impose either water charges or a property tax, citing the logistics of fairly implementing such taxes as a stumbling block. Might I suggest a system where both the water charge and property tax could be easily combined and introduced (with due regard to those who cannot pay)?
I believe a base charge could be levied on every power meter in the State served by the ESB, Bord Gas, Airtricity, etc. A charge commensurate with a previous 12 months’ bill/usage would be fair. An additional small levy on unit usage could also be introduced, giving an added income to the State as well as incentivising the economic use of energy. The possibility would thus exist that cutting personal waste could reduce the overall personal cost.
There is no doubt our society is in need of this income no matter how despairing the taxpayer might be. By simply using the services of An Post, along with the power suppliers this could help introduce a fair system where the bigger consumer pays more and perhaps the unit levy could be ringfenced to protect the welfare of children and the disabled in the State, whose welfare is responsibility of the taxpayers who partied at their expense. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – It would appear from all the speculation about December’s budget that we are again being softened up as we were in August, 2003, when you were kind enough to print my letter regarding the same question for a brutal budget.
We now know that the ESRI in its wisdom suggests that 200,000 people will have to emigrate, reminiscent of the 1920s, 1930s, 1960s and 1980s. If such a number of people are forced to emigrate then they and their children will be lost to the tax system here for the foreseeable future, and we shall end up with the largest percentage of elderly people in the EU, with no youth to support the country.
“We cannot afford to keep you” were the words of the government here in the 1920s. Same old story.
This is surely the politics of despair. Fianna Fáil has been in power for the vast majority of the State’s existence; that no revolution has overthrown it is amazing to some observers, as the same people will emerge from the bloodbath of this December budget clutching their tax-exile status, land and property assets along with their Mercedes and huge pension funds. And that is only the TDs and former ministers. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – So the Government is warning of tough decisions ahead as members ponder the best methods of finding €3 billion in savings for the budget in December. How about they first get rid of their personal drivers and the Mercs? How infuriating it was to watch them drive in and out of Farmleigh. How much money would be saved by discontinuing this practice I don’t know, but it would send out a real signal to the public that their is no “sacred cow” with this Government in relation to cuts. – Yours, etc,