Chairman’s Blog | Public Policy, Public Expenditure & GNP | Independent Thinking on Public Policy Issues

in: News and Archive | 24 May 2022

Is Ireland’s Tax System Progressive ?

In his opinion column on 29 September Fintan O’Toole asserts that the claim that Ireland’s tax system is the most progressive is “not true at all. It is, literally not even a half-truth”. Fintan’s view that “The whole claim to having the most progressive tax system depends on ignoring the highly regressive nature of indirect…
in: News and Archive | 26 Mar 2018

Reflections on 6 Years of Public Policy

The time has come for us to close our doors as our funding from Atlantic Philanthropies has been exhausted.
We end with some final thoughts.
in: News and Archive | 23 Mar 2018

Underemployed Part-time Workers

Employment increased by almost 70,000 (3.1%) in the year to Q4 2017. Over 115,000 part-time workers would like to work more than they currently do.

1 Dec 2016

Almost 60% of wealth in Ireland is owned by those over 55 and the largest components of tangible household wealth are the main residence and farms.

Local Authority Rent Arrears In Dublin
23 Nov 2016

Of the close to 24,000 tenancies in Dublin City Council, 6,300 or 26% are in arrears to the value of 12 weeks rent or more.
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Health Costs By Age Group
9 Nov 2016

The cost of claims in the private health insurance market is rising steeply for the those aged over 80 years old. Those aged 80+ have seen their average claims increase by 66% or €2,024 between 2010 and 2015.
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Older People Pay Much Less Tax Than the Young
27 Oct 2016

Old people pay less tax than the young on the same income. The differences are very large particularly for married couples with average incomes and below.
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#Budget2017: CIGARETTES AND ALCOHOL – WHERE THE TAX GOES
14 Oct 2016

Today as it’s Budget Day, we updated our infographic that shows where the tax goes that is collected on the ‘old reliables’ – cigarettes and alcohol. There are two types of tax collected: Excise duty Value added tax (VAT) Assumptions: A bottle of wine costs €10 A packet of cigarettes costs €11 A pint of…
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Where Excise Tax Goes #Budget17
10 Oct 2016

BUDGET2017: Where does the excise tax from beer, wine, cigarettes and diesel go?
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Ireland’s Public Debt Burden
16 Nov 2016

While Ireland’s public debt burden is still relatively high, it is declining and the cost of servicing it will decline further as a share of Government revenue.
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Urgent Action Needed To Deliver Pension Promises
1 Nov 2016

Ireland’s pension system promises adequate benefits in general but unless action is taken soon to address shortcomings, there are question marks regarding the delivery of these promises.
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Ireland’s Competitiveness
19 Oct 2016

For the first half of 2016, the Government had a deficit of -€1,269 million (1% of GDP) compared with a deficit of -€2,324 (1.9% of GDP) for the same period in 2015.
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Local Property Tax Variations – 2017
14 Oct 2016

The cumulative cost of Councils adjusting the basic rate of LPT for 2017 is €20.2 million
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The New Agreement On The Supply And Pricing Of Medicines Explained
10 Oct 2016

This note explains the new conditions agreed by the Government and the IPHA for the supply of medicines to the Irish Health Service.
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