The case for investment in social housing
"Regeneration schemes”, we must never forget, are not just about plans, structures or budgets. They are not just about the physical houses provided. They are about communities that are enabled to thrive and flourish. They are about people who are being acknowledged and encouraged to develop a proud...
Monday Blog: Getting our priorities right
A curious feature of public debate in the run-up to Budget 2015 in the Republic of Ireland next month is the extent of focus on reducing income tax for the top 20% of workers (those paying the top income tax rate). These account for just under 400,000 persons at work and make up 18% of all tax cases...
NERI Seminar: Budget Changes in VAT excise and levies
Slides from NERI Seminar on 10th September 2014. The presentation was accompanied by and NERI working paper: Collins, M.L. (2014), ‘Modelling the Distributive Impact of Indirect Taxation Changes in the Republic of Ireland’ NERI Working Paper, 2014/20. Dublin, NERI.
Taxing Questions, Taxing Answers
Following the publication of the recent NERI working paper on total household tax contributions, there have been a number of issues raised by commentators and others on the paper, its data and its conclusions. Of course, given the topic, that comes as no surprise. Taxation is always a contentious...
Monday Blog: Youth labour market still in recession
The week gone by brought some mixed news in regards to wages and employment trends in the Republic of Ireland. The recovery in total estimated employment from about the end of 2012 has continued into 2014 but at a much reduced pace. At the same time, wages are dropping slightly on average (before...
How much tax do people really pay
How much Tax do people really pay? Too often considerations of the taxation system are focused on income taxes, or income related taxes like social insurance; a narrow perspective given the composition of taxation revenue received by the exchequer. Indeed, the oft-cited phrase ‘taxpayers’ is...
The Revenue Gap
The NERI’s Quarterly Economic Facts contains a range of indicators on the public finances. One of these indicators compares government revenue as a percentage of GDP in the EU and the Republic of Ireland. Total general government revenue is largely obtained from taxes and social security...
Monday Blog: It's party time again?
ews of rising house prices, fewer households in negative equity, falling dole queues, rising spending in the shops and the long farewell to the Troika together with a relatively benign Irish summer, so far, have lifted the economic mood a little in the Republic of Ireland. In the North the spillover...
Examining Unemployment Traps in the Republic of Ireland
As individuals transition from unemployment to employment they experience losses of welfare payments and entitlements, gains in earned gross income and they begin to pay income taxes and social insurance contributions on their earned income. To assess this impact it is possible to calculate a...
Uncertainty and Economic Recovery
Slowly, the Irish economy is recovering; very slowly! Over the weekend, I and other economists contributed to a journal.ie article ( see here) on the two-speed nature of the recovery. While the exchequers finances are improving (lower unemployment, higher employment, some increased spending...