Monday Blog: Imagining a different society
Recent debates about politics, water charges, tax cuts and austerity have focussed on the short-term and how we can get out of the economic slump. This is understandable. Now we need a conversation in Ireland about our long-term goal and how the policies and goals of the immediate months ahead...
Monday Blog: Things you always wanted to know about Northern Ireland public finances (Part 2)
In a previous Blog ‘ Things you always wanted to know about public finances in Northern Ireland but were afraid to ask ’ (Part 1) I outlined the main components of public spending and receipts. The arrangements for funding and how the UK Government allocates funds are complex. Three factors have...
Income: The Gender Divide
There are many measures examining differences in various socio-economic characteristics among men and women. In general, women are better educated, healthier, live longer but earn less – factors which in themselves point towards gaps in societal equality for both sexes. Focusing just on income, it...
Monday Blog: A roof over your head
A roof over your head is a fundamental human need and right. Purchasing or renting a place to live typically takes a big chunk of lifetime earnings or income. It is the biggest single cost facing most workers or households. Recent decades have seen a significant change in the way people live, work...
Monday Blog: Things you always wanted to know about public finances in Northern Ireland but were afraid to ask (Part 1)
Fiscal austerity has dominated public discourse across Europe for more than half a decade. The UK and Northern Ireland has been no exception. Recent weeks have seen growing controversy and political tension as public spending cuts imposed by the UK government continue to impact on the local...
Trends in Average Incomes since 2006
Income levels, whether for individuals or households, are far from perfect measures of progress and well-being. However, they offer one insight into the experience of recent years for households across the Republic. In particular, trends in disposable income (income after taxes and welfare payments)...
NERI Post Budget Seminar
The October NERI seminar took place yesterday afternoon in the INTO Learning Centre. Michelle Murphy (Social Justice Ireland), Cormac Staunton (TASC) and Michael Taft (UNITE) provided on overview of the impact of the Budget 2015 with a focus on changes to system of income tax and the prospects for...
Income Taxation and Budget 2015
Judged from an income taxation perspective, Budget 2015 was reminiscent of Budgets of ten years ago, or more - maybe a worrying starting point! Cuts to income taxes dominated the announcements, and policy implementation within the Budget. This was at the cost of other priorities, including securing...
Deprivation Trends Highlight Living standards Impact on Recession
Indicator 5.1 in the latest edition of the NERI’s Quarterly Economic Facts document tracks trends in poverty and deprivation in the Republic of Ireland from 2004 to 2012 – the latest year where data is available. Overall it reflects a decrease in poverty levels to 2009 before these began to increase...
Monday Blog: Dealing with a terrible marriage
They were tall, elegant, famous, beautiful and affluent. It was a fairy-tale marriage deemed to last forever …. until the gales of crisis struck and deep cracks were exposed. In 2002 and in the run-up to the introduction of the Euro most commentators and policy makers imagined that peace, stability...