Michael Taft

Profits and Threats in the Irish Housing Market While the VAT cut on food services was farcical, the tax cuts for property developers was insidious. It was framed as necessary measures to increase apartment construction viability.  But the …

Hospitality VAT cut was farcical. But tax cuts for property developers were insidious. Developers’ lobby told the Government – give us more subsidy or we won’t help meet your housing targets. And the Government blinked. Because it has no strategy: tinyurl.com/bdfc9kwd

Profits and Threats in the Irish Housing Market While the VAT cut on food services was farcical, the tax cuts for property developers was insidious. It was framed as necessary measures to increase apartment construction viability.  But the …

Hospitality VAT cut was farcical. Tax cuts for property developers, however, were insidious. Developers’ lobby told the Government – give us more subsidy or we won’t help meet your housing targets. And the Government blinked. Because it has no strategy: tinyurl.com/bdfc9kwd

📻 I’ll be speaking about #housing in #Budget2026 tonight on @rteradio1.bsky.social @latedebaterte.bsky.social 10-11pm #SpeirGorm

Probably the most succinct (and correct) description of Budget 2026. Note: it is not so much 'pro-business' as 'pro-business owner'. It is highly debatable whether tax cuts will boost business productivity. And also note the 'austerity' headline above.

Some Facts to Help You Survive the Budget There is always a lot of noise and numbers in the run-up to the budget.  Here are a few facts that might help you wade through this forest of assertions, assumptions and anecdotes. 1. &nb…

There is always a lot of noise and numbers in the run-up to the budget. Here are a few facts that might help you survive the tsunami of assertions and assumptions on Tuesday: spending, poverty, profits, VAT cuts, multi-national bail-outs and much more: tinyurl.com/2ze7kcxh

Lorcan Sirr: The five things Ireland must do to help fix housing Introduce a residency requirement, change the legal definition of ‘rent’ and start counting bed spaces

If James Browne wants to get ‘radical’ about housing, here are five things he must do www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...

Notes on the Front Commentary on Irish Political Economy by Michael Taft, researcher for SIPTU

Notes on the Front is moving. You can now find it at notesonthefront.org . Hope to see you there.

Pay rises for construction workers are solution to housing crisis, not the problem, says union Pay rises are the solution to the housing crisis and not a problem, a union has claimed.

“Pay rises for construction workers are solution to housing crisis, not the problem, says union”
www.independent.ie/irish-news/p...

The war in Ukraine has been very good for the stock prices of European arms makers. From Bloomberg:

It's so strange to me how the absolutely core question at the heart of politics - "what kind of society do we want to live in?" - is so absent from discussion, either assumed settled or reduced to meaningless generalities.

Divestment Works. When finance is accountable to the people, elites get scared.

The White House’s furious response to the decision by Norway’s SWF to divest from Caterpillar over its support for Israeli war crimes tells us something important: divestment works.

And it works even more effectively in a democratic financial system.
graceblakeley.substack.com/p/divestment...

The Covid and cost-of-living crises have been good for profits. Since 2019, profits in the domestic sector (basically SMEs) increased by 72%. Wages increased by 40%. In the last year, profits grew by 10%. For wages it was 6%. Yet owners demand more tax breaks and subsidies.

Wasteful Spending, Irrational Policy In order to assist restaurants, cafes and coffee shops, the Government intends to cut VAT in the upcoming budget at a cost of nearly €700 million. There’s one problem: restaurants, cafes and coffee sh...

It is claimed that cutting VAT (cost: €700 million) will help restaurants and coffee shops. Yet, less than 20% of that tax cut will benefit those businesses. 60% will go to fast-food outlets and meals in hotels. This is highly wasteful and inefficient: tinyurl.com/mrkamxrh

Wasteful Spending, Irrational Policy In order to assist restaurants, cafes and coffee shops, the Government intends to cut VAT in the upcoming budget at a cost of nearly €700 million. There’s one problem: restaurants, cafes and coffee sh...

It is claimed that cutting VAT (cost: €700 million) will help restaurants and coffee shops. Yet, less than 20% of that tax cut will benefit those businesses. 60% will go to fast-food outlets and meals in hotels. This is highly wasteful and inefficient. tinyurl.com/mrkamxrh

Instead of cutting taxes by €1.5 billion we should be raising tax revenue by €1.5 billion. A difficult sell, but it is cynical to claim we can support living standards, reduce poverty and promote a strong social state through a tax-cutting budget. tinyurl.com/59bjdua2

Over the last 5 years, the nuclear-armed countries spent over $400 billion on their nuclear arsenals. For half that amount we could end global hunger. The EU should take the global lead and declare Europe to be a nuclear-weapon-free zone. Source: ICAN

Thanks for that.

Huge win for workers!🥳

Do you have a link for that?

Ireland has the fewest number of labour inspectors in the EU, bar Malta. A weak and under-resourced labour inspectorate puts employees at risk, allows low-road employers to undermine good businesses, and weakens consumer safety. Everyone loses. Source: ILO

The Government justifies a number of policies – postponing the Living Wage, cutting VAT – on the basis that small businesses are under pressure. Yet the Government publishes survey data showing SME profitability has never been higher. So what's going on? tinyurl.com/3zrcrjhk

Fiscal policy is in danger of repeating the past. A large economic deficit subsidised by a shrinking pool of money. If tariffs hit growth, the Government will squeeze spending, reducing growth further. Been there, done that, bought the austerity t-shirt. tinyurl.com/2uyy8347

Fiscal policy is in danger of repeating the past. A large economic deficit subsidised by a shrinking pool of money. If tariffs hit growth, the Government will squeeze spending, reducing growth further. Been there, done that, bought the austerity t-shirt: tinyurl.com/2uyy8347

Ireland will disporportionately suffer from the 15% tariff. Over a quarter of all Irish goods exports go to the US. The EU average is 8%. How is this a good deal for Ireland or the EU?

What do Ireland’s best paid chief executives earn? Top executives’ average pay package rose by 31 per cent to €4.36m last year

Average CEO pay in large Irish publicly quoted companies rose by 31%. Average employee wage rose by approximately 4%. Increase in CEO pay rose nearly 8 times faster. This should be a political issue.

What do Ireland’s best paid chief executives earn?

www.irishtimes.com/business/202...

394. New Apartment Standards – The 21st Century Tenements with Orla Hegarty Reboot Republic - Rory Hearne by Tortoise Shack Media · Episode

🎧 New Apartment Standards the 20th Century Tenements

My conversation with Rory Hearne on Reboot Republic podcast (no paywall) www.patreon.com/posts/patron...

Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/4DZe...
Apple: podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/r...

I am writing a policy pamphlet. Here are all the ways to demonstrate I don't really have a policy answer, that I need to avoid:

a. You call for a "national conversation or debate"
b. You suggest that what is needed is “a change in culture”
1/

We're Not Spending Enough Voices are growing louder. Government spending is getting out of control: ‘surging public spending’, ‘rising faster than planned’, ‘fiscal incontinence’; and the killer punch: public spending has doub...

We’re being told public spending is getting out of control. But Ireland is a low spender. We’d have to increase public expenditure by up to €15 billion just to reach EU averages. We need to significantly increase spending – and the revenue to pay for it. tinyurl.com/bdfpetw9

We're Not Spending Enough Voices are growing louder. Government spending is getting out of control: ‘surging public spending’, ‘rising faster than planned’, ‘fiscal incontinence’; and the killer punch: public spending has doub...

We’re being told public spending is getting out of control. But Ireland is a low spender. We’d have to increase public expenditure by up to €15 billion just to reach EU averages. We need to significantly increase spending – and the revenue to pay for it. tinyurl.com/bdfpetw9

Reducing working time through #CollectiveBargaining is a powerful tool to tackle burnout, improve work-life balance, and address labour market challenges – all without reducing pay or productivity.

Our new study analyses 119 collective bargaining agreements.

➡️ www.etuc.org/en/pressrele...