Depending on who you talk to, the government’s move to increase Carbon Tax was either too much too soon or too little too late. Either way, the tax needs to be a stepping stone to a different Ireland. And that involves changes our systems of production.
Ireland talks endlessly about taxation and expenditure, but few people talk about the mechanics of reform. This is what I wanted to discuss with one of the country’s top civil servants, 48 hours after Budget day.
In her first major post-Budget interview, the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Heather Humphries talks about what Budget 2020 means for Irish business, dealing with the prospect of a hard Brexit and her new strategy for SMEs.
Paschal Donohoe created a clear juxtaposition between his decision to rein in institutional investor profits (and stymy a tax move by Green Reit) and his support for small Irish business though a €1.2bn Brexit package and an overhaul of several schemes.
Budget 2020 was both weird and strange. A tentpole policy you don’t want to see used. A recognition of the fiscal prodigal that is Health. A suite of inherently prudent measures, and a raft of other small things that might not get used at all. But it was also the budget we needed.
Budget 2020 is rightly being framed against the backdrop of Brexit. But the global economic mood music is increasingly depressed and there is little the government can do about it.
Brexit is forcing us to deal with multiple paradoxes at the same time. A phenomenon which can only harm us when it happens is actually helping us before it hits, as it calms our economy down.
The annual budget process is a recipe for overspending and myopic decision-making. However, for the first time in fifteen years, we can actually think about a world with a better set of budgetary institutions.
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