We are witnessing the first skirmishes in a new war for resources in Ireland, writes Cliff Taylor
Cost of living: ‘I would not be able to afford to build and do that commute ... It is another mortgage’
The same thinking surrounds the tax measures. If the lower 9 per cent VAT rate for accommodation, food and other sectors such as hairdressing is extended, it will cost the guts of €500 million this year. That could be affordable. But the real question is whether doing this would effectively make it semi-permanent. The same goes for lower excise on fuel, where there are also climate-change issues.
Trade unions, in a smart move, are focusing on the idea of a ‘social wage’ – what the Government can deliver in areas like childcare and health to improve people’s standard of living So too is Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, but he has made considerable play of the need to support the squeezed middle and households in general. Fine Gael faces particular challenges in deciding on its message over the next few years as its promises of tax cuts for middle earners will be impossible to deliver – or at least if the choice is made to cut tax on income, then it will require additional resources to be raised elsewhere. If your income tax bills fall, you will be caught somewhere else.
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