Maybe you should focus more on the failings of management?
Do you mean management or the government? What would you consider the failings to be?
If you mean management, then based upon @fenwaypark posts, I can see why they spread around the full-time posts. Their responsibility is primarily to the schools, not the individual staff and theyâre making best use of resources as they can. Hardly a failing?
If you mean the government, I think that the pay-deal done last year used up 1/3rd of the âfiscal spaceâ or extra money available. I would think 1/3rd is a fairly generous amount of the money to allocate to one sector of the economy as it is so I would think there is limited room to change that. As for how that 1/3rd was allocated within the public sector - well that was my original post that it seems that the unions were happy to continue pulling up the ladder on the newer entrants/younger cohort âŚ
1 Like
Full time is 22hrs ? @fenwaypark.WTF
I thought that, but I suspect its 22 hours of actual classroom time.
1 Like
This thing will sort itself out in time. As the older teachers retire, the younger, less paid will eventually equal or outnumber the higher paid, this will lead to the union executive being ordered by the majority ( less paid staff) to pursue their equal pay claim.
The executive is caught right now. Ballot for industrial action - older members wonât vote for strike, why should they, theyâre paid enough, until the younger members have the majority theyâre tied.
Michael Noonan was warned multinationals tax break would âbackfireâ
Peter OâDwyer, Senior Ireland Business Reporter
June 5 2018, 12:01am, The Times
A tax break for multinationals, estimated to have cost the state billions of euros in recent years, was introduced by the government despite concerns from officials, The Times can reveal.
Michael Noonan, the former finance minister, raised the level of capital allowances on intellectual property (IP) assets from 80 per cent to 100 per cent at the end of 2014. The move allowed companies to shield more of their profits from corporation tax using capital allowances â tax savings on the purchase of assets.
Documents, obtained by The Times using freedom of information rules show that a senior official warned that a more modest proposal than the one ultimately introduced by the minister would reduce the tax bills of companies on IP assets to unacceptably low levels.
Paul Kealy, a policy adviser at the Department of Businessâs tax policy unit, warned of the reputational damage to Ireland that could result from the change.
His comments concerned a suggestion to increase the cap on capital allowances from 80 per cent to 90 per cent. Mr Noonan went even further by raising the cap to 100 per cent.
âI disagree [with the proposal] on reputation grounds, this would reduce the potential minimum effective tax rate from 2.5 per cent to 1.25 per cent, as 1.25 per cent is too low and such a change could backfire,â Mr Kealy wrote.
The increase in the cap on capital allowances was highlighted late last year after the Paradise Papers leak showed how Apple moved large amounts of its IP assets to Ireland in 2015. As a result of Mr Noonanâs change in October 2014, the tech giant reduced its corporate tax rate to a nominal amount.
After the leak, politicians raised concerns that Mr Noonanâs decision could have cost the state billions of euros over three years, while Seamus Coffey, the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council chairman, estimated that Ireland was missing out on up to âŹ850 million of tax revenue a year as a result of the higher cap.
Leo Varadkar said that the lost tax revenue was an âunintended consequenceâ of the governmentâs decision. Paschal Donohoe, the finance minister, reversed the change last year, taking the cap back to 80 per cent.
The tax revenue should be available to the state at a later date once the capital allowances expire. However, concerns have been raised about the potential for firms to leave Ireland or rearrange their corporate structure before the tax becomes payable. Politicians have also argued that the tax revenue is needed by the state as of now.
Separate documents obtained from the Department of Finance cast doubt over Mr Noonanâs decision to increase the cap to 100 per cent. However, in one draft submission finance officials warned: âGiven the international tax environment, any overt accentuation of the tax treatment that applies to what is often highly valuable IP may attract international attention.â
The documents show that department officials asked Revenue to estimate the cost of increasing the cap to 85 per cent, 90 per cent, 95 per cent and 100 per cent respectively. The records also show that the minister was lobbied by a number of bodies, including the American Chamber of Commerce, to increase the cap to 90 per cent or 95 per cent.
Mr Noonan ultimately chose 100 per cent despite the records showing no evidence of this policy being suggested by outside bodies. The proposal was included in a draft policy document for the minister but the records do not show any evidence of it being suggested by department officials prior to its inclusion.
Pearse Doherty, the Sinn FĂŠin finance spokesman, said the government must clarify the rationale for the decision and outline whether Mr Noonan was aware of the concerns of one of his senior policy advisers. âThe FoI documents shed light on the motivations behind a move costing the state âŹ850 million every year but it leaves many questions unanswered. Where did the idea to move to 100 per cent come from, even though it seems there was no demand for it from any side?â he said. A Department of Jobs spokesman said Mr Kealyâs comments were part of discussions during which different views were aired before a decision was taken. He added that the departmentâs policy suggestions were designed to increase Irelandâs competitiveness.
Mr Noonan did not respond to a request for comment when contacted.
In response to a query as to why the cap was raised to 100 per cent as opposed to the initial recommendation that it be raised to 85 per cent, a spokesman for the Department of Finance said the initial proposal was made âat the early stage of the decision-making process when a number of options were being consideredâ.
Apple did not respond to a request for comment.
May he die roaring.
The next step is to check what Noonanâs been at since he retired from politics. Has he taken up any directorships or advisory roles with any companies? Maybe ones with a shitload of intellectual property assets?
No need to go to J School for you, youâre on the ball.
1 Like
Pascal Donohoe showing that heâs a safe pair of hands by announcing he wonât be using all the fiscal space available to him in the coming budget. This was recommended by a long list of economists and think tanks as the prudent action to prevent overheating the economy.
He is very impressive, smart guy with a good handle on his brief. An outlier.
2 Likes
Yeah - Iâd agree. Iâm surprised heâs taken this stance because the typical Irish politician thing to do would be âif I have money I spend itâ. Maybe we did learn something from the last crash âŚ
The McCreevy philosophy. I donât agree with Donoghue on everything but I have a lot of respect for him, more than I can say for most of them.
This is a sensible idea and all but after the bones of a decade propping up the government coffers, isnât it about time for USC to fuck right off.
To be fair to McCreevy he was the only who tried to put the brakes on in any shape or form.
Yeah or maybe squirrel it away until election year in 2020 and go on a big election year splurge.
USC is here to stay because equitable taxes like water charges and property tax increases which would proportionately affect the Wealthy more are political poison.
The problem now is we are ten years behind in infrastructure spending because when things were bad and they should have been pumping money into it to prop up the economy they pulled the plug. Now they are afraid to spend it in case it over heats the economy. 
1 Like
Yes, but on the flip side he has a lisp
1 Like
Weâll hardly make 2020 mate. Agreement runs out at the budget this year. Thatâs why the think tanks were warning against over spending.
Youâll have the usual suspects moaning about all the things they should be spending money on, a hospital in every town etc, but itâs prudent enough out of them tbf
I think most people would think thereâll be an election before the budget in 2019.