Three questions, Mr Lenihan…

Three questions, Mr Lenihan…

You have just used €1.5bn of our money to nationalise Anglo Irish Bank, a specialist bank with a relatively small number of wealthy clients which is worth pittance.

As a public servant, it would be…patriotic…if you answered three questions:

1. Does the bank have an operation in Jersey and if so, how much are its assets worth?
2. Did Sean Fitzpatrick and Lar Bradshaw know the bank would be nationalised before public statements were made and if so, did they buy shares in the bank just before this was announced?
3. Did Fianna Fail or any senior members of government personally benefit from this nationalisation. If so, who benefited and how much did they gain?

Midnight fairytale over as Cinderella clause abolished

Cinderella Clause abolished

"At the moment, tax exiles who are here for less than 183 days a year do not have to pay their full tax in this country. But a day is not counted if the individual leaves by midnight, hence the tax regulation earned the nickname the "Cinderella rule".

From now on, though, once a person who is a tax exile is in the country at any part of the day, the day counts for tax purposes.

The rule on the 183 days in a calendar year, or 280 days over a two-year period, was set down in 1995."

Tax break gives Cecelia more cash to play with

Tax break gives Cecelia more cash to play with

"Best-selling author Cecelia Ahern, who has already been granted tax-free status for earnings from her novels, has now been given the perk by the Revenue Commissioners for her first play."

The purpose of the tax exemption for artists was a good one. To encourage artists to stay in Ireland so we could have an innovative arts scene.

How does granting yet more tax exemptions to a millionaire encourage innovation?

And how does it help the struggling citizens of Ireland, whose tax pays for the services she uses in when living in Ireland?

Brian Lenihan's call to patriotic action

The last refuge of a scoundrel. That’s how Samuel Johnston would have described Finance Minister Brian Lenihan’s pronouncement on 14th October 2008.

In his budget, he called the nation to patriotic action by supporting him as he leads our nation into recession. How?

When the poorest in the country are just about surviving, when ordinary people are loosing their jobs, and when people have less money to spend, he announced tax increases on all, not just the rich.

He announced higher VAT so essentials like bread and milk are even harder to afford and people drive to Northern Ireland to buy food at half the price, killing our local business.

He announced cuts in health for the elderly, cuts in education for our kids, and cuts in public transport.

And he announced more tax breaks for big business from outside Ireland.

This doesn’t make sense for Ireland’s local business. It doesn’t make sense for Ireland’s people.