Skip to main content

Just Clowen' Around...Shortfall Of Over €1.5bn For Ireland's Tax Returns

The Irish Times has a report from Stephen Collins, (Political Editor,)on the deteriorating state of Ireland's finances...


"Tax Returns expected to show tax shortfall of at least €1.5bn...

THE SCALE of the financial crisis facing the country will become clear today with the publication of the exchequer returns, which are expected to show a dramatic shortfall of at least €1.5 billion in tax revenues for the first half of the year.

The Cabinet discussed the rapidly deteriorating financial situation yesterday, but final decisions on the strategy to deal with the issue will not be taken until next week's Cabinet meeting after Ministers have considered the official figures. The Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, confirmed in the Dáil yesterday that tax revenues for the first six months were down but he said exact figures would not be available until today. He added that the Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan had briefed the Government in general terms about the figures and would be issuing a statement after their publication...

...He said there was a challenging time ahead for the remainder of this year and decisions would have to be taken in the context of the estimates for next year's expenditure targets.

"The Government is au fait with the general position and the Minister and his colleagues will determine the broad strategy to be adopted. The Government will make decisions promptly and appropriately and we will discuss them in the House," said Mr Cowen.

The Taoiseach was replying to the Labour Party leader, Eamon Gilmore, who insisted that tax revenues were down because of the Government's economic policies rather than the international financial situation.

Fine Gael deputy leader and finance spokesman Richard Bruton forecast last night that the mid-term exchequer figures were likely to be some of grimmest ever seen and he called on the Taoiseach and Minister for Finance to stop washing their hands and take concrete action.

"Brian Cowen sleepwalked the economy into recession. He ignored repeated warnings about over-dependency on the property boom, and failed to notice the steady deterioration in export performance. As minister for finance, Brian Cowen presided over the worst deterioration in the public finances in the history of the State," said Mr Bruton.

He called on the Taoiseach to set an example by immediately cancelling the Government's profligate pay rise, ending waste in the public sector and scrapping a number of unnecessary junior ministers.

Labour finance spokeswoman Joan Burton said that the Government had still not offered anything like a comprehensive analysis of the deteriorating economic situation.

"Instead, we get a slow drip-feed of information as if the Government hopes the people won't notice the recession creeping up on them. Introducing cutbacks by stealth is no way to conduct Government business."

Ms Burton added that without accurate information, it was difficult to plot a course back towards economic sustainability. She added that serious questions had to be asked about the ability of the Government to make accurate economic forecasts at all.

"In December 2006, Brian Cowen forecast growth for 2008 of 4.8 per cent. In December 2007, he revised it down to 2.8 per cent. Now the ESRI forecast that it will be minus 0.4 per cent. These erroneous forecasts have triggered a fiscal crisis in which it seems the poor, the sick and the handicapped will be made to suffer for the Government's mistakes," she said."


The article also quotes Taoiseach as saying...

"We will have a debate next week on the NDP [National Development Plan] and the economy, which will present a good opportunity for the Government to outline the general position. Given that tax revenues will be back from where we expected them to be because of the international financial situation, it will be necessary for us to work to our expenditure targets within the budgetary parameters we have set ourselves"

...Political speak for "Oh SH*T!!!"


...Don't forget to tune in, with Taoiseach Mr Clowen', and watch all the fun, " Just Clowen' Around", live on Dail TV!!! (www.oireachtas.ie)

Popular posts from this blog

Ireland's Celtic Tiger Excesses...

'Bang twins' may never get to run a business again... POST-boom Ireland is awash with cautionary tales of Celtic Tiger excesses, as a rattle around the carcasses of fallen property developers and entrepreneurs will show. Few can compete with the so-called Bang twins for youth, glamour and tasteful extravagance. Simon and Christian Stokes, the 35-year-old identical twins behind Bang Cafe and exclusive private members club, Residence, saw their entire business go bust with debts of €9m, €3m of which is owed to the tax man. The debt may be in the ha'penny place compared with the eye-watering billions owed by some of their former customers. But their fall has been arguably steeper and more damning than some of the country's richest tycoons. Last week, further humiliation was heaped on them with revelations that even as their businesses were going under, the twins spent €146,000 of company money in 18 months on designer shopping sprees, five star holidays and sumptu

I fear a very different kind of property crash

While 80% of people over 40 own their own home just a third of adults under 40 do. This is disastrous for social solidarity and cohesion Changing this system of policymaking requires a government to act in a way that may be uncomfortable for some. Governments have a horizon of no more than five years, and the housing issue requires long-term planning. The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform was intended to tackle some of these problems. According to its website its remit is to “drive the delivery of better public services, living standards and infrastructure for the people of Ireland by enhancing governance, building capacity and delivering effectively”. So how is the challenge of delivering homes for people in 2024 and beyond going to be met? The extent of the problem is visible in the move by companies, including Ryanair, to buy properties to house staff. Ryanair has, justifiably, defended its right to do so. IPAV has long articulated its views on how to improve supply an

Property Tycoon's Dolce Vita Ends...

Tycoon's dolce vita ends as art seized... THE Dublin city sheriff has seized an art collection and other valuables from the Ailesbury Road home of fallen property developer Bernard McNamara. The collection will be sold to help pay his debts. The sheriff, Brendan Walsh, is believed to have moved against the property developer within the past fortnight, calling to his salubrious Dublin 4 home acting on a court order to seize anything of value from his home to reimburse his creditors. The sheriff is believed to have taken paintings from the family home along with a small number of other items. The development marks a new low for Mr McNamara, once one of Ireland's richest men but who now owes €1.5bn . The property developer and former county councillor from Clare turned the building firm founded by his father Michael into one of the biggest in Ireland. He is the highest-profile former tycoon to date to be targeted by bailiffs, signalling just how far some of Ireland's billionai