Raising taxes a mistake -- sell state assets
There is a real danger Ireland will return to past failures if measures to repair government finances rely on higher taxation.
These may help to rebalance public finances in the short term but will cause a further sharp contraction in consumer confidence and economic activity.
The State directly controls saleable commercial assets worth at least €25bn to €30bn, which could be privatised, even in the current turbulent markets, with significant cash receipts being realised by the State within 12 to 24 months.
Privatisation of state assets in the UK began at a time of recession in the early 1980s and contributed significantly to a spirit of revival from the mid-'80s onwards.
Even in current markets, the State could realistically raise €4bn to €5bn per year from privatisation over five years.
Does this Government have the ability to take the initiative or will they take the soft option and tax the country back into depression, stagnation and emigration like their predecessors?
John G Fitzgerald
Killiney, Co Dublin
It now appears likely that we are heading for another Budget even though the Tanaiste declared only last week that the public finances were under control and both our Minister for Finance and our Taoiseach intimated that there was no need to increase taxes.
So what has happened in the meantime?
Don't get me wrong, I am all for paying whatever level of tax is required to get our country back on the straight and narrow. However, I do take exception to how our tax money is managed.
For example, St Patrick's Day. How much of taxpayers' money will be spent on lavish unnecessary foreign junkets?
We cannot afford €10m to administer life-saving cancer vaccines to our children, yet we can afford €7.5bn to bail out the banks. We have squandered over €50m, and rising, on defunct electronic voting machines.
Countless millions have been spent on tribunals without any meaningful consequence. How can the taxpayers have faith in such a government?
What is needed is real leadership and a structured programme of recovery.
Kevin Muldoon
Mullingar, Co Westmeath
