Irish Politics

Brophs said:
We've got plenty of problems in terms of court lists etc. but at the moment the Supreme Court are completely hamstrung by the fact that we've allowed any old gobshite access to what should the ultimate court of legal authority. This is a good first step in as much as the plan is to filter out most of the frivolous stuff from people with an axe to grind and try to bring the Supreme Court back into the realm of dealing with matters of grave public interest. I know people have plenty of (valid) complaints about the legal profession, but the current approach has been proven, time and again, not to work with regard to clearing the lists.

I genuinely don't think in this instance that it is self interest. It's about re-establishing what the Supreme Court is supposed to be about (or at least a useful first step, the next I'd like to see being the reduction of legal costs by virtue of cutting out these established bureaucratic delays that have been built into the system). Yes, a few more Judges would be hired, but in all honesty, we should have at least a dozen more anyway, with more High Court sittings around the country, so we have a genuine sense of giving everyone reasonable access to justice.
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I bow to your superior knowledge Brophs.

In reality I don't have a huge problem with it, whatever makes the court more effective. the question I'd ask is what are the other options? Completely alter the legal system or leave it as it is seems to be it.
 
When you've got politicians throwing around "less politicians" as an incentive to do something, it should be a big fecking red flag that they're trying to pull a fast one on you.
 
I couldn't vote in this because I'm not an Irish citizen, but I've spoken to a lot of my peers about this in the build-up to the referendum. An alarming number of them voted "yes" to aboloshing the Seanad simply because they saw it as a way to get back at the "freeloading politicians". I was gobsmacked. A second House is a necessity in any functioning democratic system. It has to exist.

The cop out in this referendum was that there was no "reform" option; it was take it or leave it. A rock and a hard place. Either the Seanad was abolished, leaving the Dail free to do whatever the hell they like, or it's given a "vote of confidence" and gets to carry on as it has been - which is pretty far from ideal. Neither option is good, but keeping things as they are is the best of a bad choice. In my opinion, what needed to happen was that the Seanad desperately needs reform; it must continue to exist and serve a valuable purpose, but it needs to be democratically elected (and I don't mean the limited "university graduates only" shit that it has now) so that it can actually represent the will of the people. There are very similar problems in the UK, where I'm from, regarding the House of Lords and the fact that it's not democratically elected, either. But in both countries the second House -- whether it be the Seanad or the House of Lords -- is vital.
 
Total poll: 1,240,721
Invalid votes: 14,355
Valid votes: 1,226,374
Votes in favour: 591,937
Votes against: 634,437
Margin of 42,500
 
Interesting how close it was! So the Seanad stays. Whats the craic with the court of appeal vote? Heard nothing about that all day.
 
Count Orduck said:
I couldn't vote in this because I'm not an Irish citizen, but I've spoken to a lot of my peers about this in the build-up to the referendum. An alarming number of them voted "yes" to aboloshing the Seanad simply because they saw it as a way to get back at the "freeloading politicians". I was gobsmacked. A second House is a necessity in any functioning democratic system. It has to exist.

The cop out in this referendum was that there was no "reform" option; it was take it or leave it. A rock and a hard place. Either the Seanad was abolished, leaving the Dail free to do whatever the hell they like, or it's given a "vote of confidence" and gets to carry on as it has been - which is pretty far from ideal. Neither option is good, but keeping things as they are is the best of a bad choice. In my opinion, what needed to happen was that the Seanad desperately needs reform; it must continue to exist and serve a valuable purpose, but it needs to be democratically elected (and I don't mean the limited "university graduates only" shit that it has now) so that it can actually represent the will of the people. There are very similar problems in the UK, where I'm from, regarding the House of Lords and the fact that it's not democratically elected, either. But in both countries the second House -- whether it be the Seanad or the House of Lords -- is vital.
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Yep, reform of essential house is essential. No doubt.
 
Sweet, no on the Seanad and yes on the Court of Appeal. Exactly how I voted. Weird that the turnout was slightly higher for the Court of Appeal decision.

Hopefully the Seanad will actually be reformed now, a second house that's actually useful would improve the country, if only slightly.
 
That's how I voted in the end. I was unsure about the Court of Appeal one but I was swayed by a great post on here from brophs.

It's actually a good sign that one went for and one went against. It kinda disproves any notion that the no vote was an anti gov vote.
 
Yeah, the court of appeal decision seemed like common sense really, plus as Brophs pointed out we need more judges anyway.

I thought the geographical split on the Seanad was interesting, I wonder why it broke down along those lines?
 
It depends on what the question is, though. If it's some bastardisation of the previous wording, or worse again, something that's a blatant attempt to trick put the exact same question to the electorate they should jump from a great pissing height. They keep harping on about €20m as if it's a lot of money, in the grand scheme of things. I'll tell you what, I'll save them €20m right now with a few easy steps:

Turn all electricity other than essentials onto a timer set for approx. 6pm in Government and local authority buildings, so they're not lit up, as they often are, at 10pm on a Saturday. Stop printing every single piece of paper and email they want to read. Stop allowing County managers and the like to have a coterie of personal secretaries and assistants. I know what they do. They don't need them. Take the advice of professional when they advise you not to piss around with liability, only to ignore it and a year or two later make payments for tens and hundreds of thousands of euro.

Give it a couple of years and we'll make it all back, without the need for compromising democracy. The bottom line from most of us is "we want a better form of democracy, not less democracy".
 
FG TD hires wife as aide after council bid fails

A NEW government TD has hired his wife as an assistant in Leinster House after he was thwarted in his efforts to get her elected to his vacant council seat.
Fine Gael's Alan Farrell has hired Emma Doyle as his parliamentary assistant in the Dail just two weeks after she was rejected by Mr Farrell'sDublin North FG branch as his replacement on Fingal County Council.

The Irish Independent has learnt Ms Doyle, a barrister by profession, sent out an email to Mr Farrell's colleagues this week, telling them about her husband's new mobile phone number.
"Please note that Deputy Alan Farrell has changed his mobile number," Ms Doyle wrote. "Kind regards, Emma Doyle, Parliamentary Assistant to Alan Farrell TD."
Parliamentary assistants earn between €41,092 and €52,200 per year, which is paid for by the State.

Neither Malahide-based Mr Farrell nor his wife returned calls for the past two days.
However, when confronted last night at a US embassy function and asked if hiring his wife sent out the wrong signal, Mr Farrell said: "I am here at an embassy function, there are people here who I would like to speak to this evening. I am not telling you anything, that is none of your business. Please go away before I call security."
The move has caused some embarrassment within Fine Gael, with one source describing it as "silly" during a time of economic crisis. Labour has strongly recommended to its TDs that they do not hire family members in Leinster House, and Fianna Fail has similarly advised its deputies.
A Sinn Fein spokesman said none of its TDs hired family members.
Ms Doyle worked on Mr Farrell's general election campaign and on previous local election campaigns.
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/fg-td-hires-wife-as-aide-after-council-bid-fails-26716863.html
 
If she can do the job I have no problem with that. The only issue is the insane salary they get for being a PA.
 
On first look that wasn't too painful I don't think. Income tax, petrol, home heating fuel all untouched. Child Allowance for first two kids untouched. The 50c extra on the bottle of wine will probably cost me about €300 next year though.

The vintners can't complain too much. They've still got the 9% VAT rate which will save them more than the 10c per pint will cost.
 
Irwinwastheking said:
On first look that wasn't too painful I don't think. Income tax, petrol, home heating fuel all untouched. Child Allowance for first two kids untouched. The 50c extra on the bottle of wine will probably cost me about €300 next year though.

The vintners can't complain too much. They've still got the 9% VAT rate which will save them more than the 10c per pint will cost.
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That is true.
 
For me it was a pretty soft budget thankfully. There's very few of the items that will change my personal situation at all. I think the GP card for under fives is one of the most ridiculously overdue introductions of all time. All kids should have GP cards.
 
"FF did more damage to this country than Cromwell"

Best quote of the budget so far :lol:
 
A wee summary thanks to Joe.ie

In case you missed what went down at Budget 2014 today, deliberately or otherwise, here are the main things you need to know.

With wall to wall coverage on TV, radio, online, in taxi cabs up and down the country and elsewhere, it was hard to avoid hearing about Budget 2014 today but if you tried to avoid the long meandering speeches, the insult-trading and even more talk of doom, gloom, austerity and the like, then we wouldn’t really blame you.
People need to know how they’re going to be affected by the measures introduced today, however, so we’ve tried to separate the wheat from the chaff and deliver a succinct summary of the most relevant and most important points so you’ll know how your pocket will be hit and you’ll be able to bluff your way through the inevitable conversations you’ll have to have in the next couple of days.
So, without further ado, here goes:
  • Fags and booze: Excise duty on a pint of beer/cider and a measure of spirits has gone up by 10 cents, as it has on a box of cigarettes, with smokers perhaps not as badly hit as expected. A year after it went up by €1 in Budget 2013, a bottle of wine has been hit with a further 50 cent charge, much to the chagrin, no doubt, of student Buckfast drinkers amongst others.
  • Income tax rates, the Universal Social Charge and PRSI have remained untouched, so expect your wage slip to remain pretty much as it is at the moment.
  • The price of petrol and diesel will stay as it is for the second year in a row. There will also be no increase in the cost of Motor Tax.
  • All children under the age of five will now be able to benefit from free GP care.
  • Dole claimants aged 25 will receive €144 per week from January onwards, dole claimants aged 18-24 will receive a reduced rate of €100 per week.
  • A standard maternity benefit of €230 per week will be introduced for new claimants from January. Child benefit will remain at €130 per month.
  • The corporate tax rate will remain at 12.5%. Indeed, Michael Noonan stated that the government were 100% committed to that rate. DIRT tax rate increased from 33% to 41%.
  • Your interest in Budget 2014, now that you know the main points, has probably dropped from about 50% to somewhere around 5%.
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"Pints up by 10c you say? Best round it up and make it 20c"

Thoughts of my local pubs, who are already overcharging.
 
Ming Flanagan:

"If there was a tsunami in Galway tomorrow and the whole population was wiped out, within 2 weeks ye would announce that ye had reduced unemployment in the western region with a straight face" :lol:
 
On a serious note how can any 25 year old be expected to live on 144 euros? Not to mention those ages 22 -24 on 100 euro. Those younger could still stay at home. Emigration is the only option for most aged 22 plus.
 
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