No substitute for experience when it comes to delivering infrastructure
Any Department of Infrastructure will need a long time to get up to speed as happened when department responsibility for climate was switched
John FitzGerald
John FitzGerald columns
With an election imminent, it is important party policies and manifestos are objectively costed and tested
Independent assessment of political proposals is an important safeguard for the voting public
Trump’s trade policies would make Mexico far better off at the expense of US workers
In a US trade war, the EU could be tempted to take retaliatory action against American corporate tax in Ireland
Employees love the flexibility of hybrid working but it could prove costly in the long run
Real collaboration and innovation occurs face to face, with a freer flow of ideas and discussion than virtual encounters
In Ireland, we seem to have lost the capacity to build at scale
Post-pandemic, there is no shortage of cash in the banks or the exchequer to help finance the investment Ireland badly needs
We could be having too much of an economic good thing
‘Dutch disease’ is when a bonanza turns into an inflation shock. State could yet suffer a mild bout of it
Green energy is good for environment and can protect from economic shocks
Financial turmoil sparked by everything from war in Ukraine to the 1956 Suez crisis offers lessons in why we should decarbonise our economy
Ireland is incredibly vulnerable to an energy shock. We must cut fossil fuel dependence
Green transition will help the planet and insulate us from price shocks
Aerodynamic pricing: Air fares will rise to meet demand this Christmas
Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary is right about one thing: The passenger cap at Dublin Airport makes no sense
Just because Ireland is good for data centres does not mean they are good for us
There should be no more data centres permitted in the coming years, and local authorities are not the right bodies to make the call
Is the Irish economy growing too fast?
The Government may need to slow economic growth if infrastructure can’t keep up
CSO at 75: How data analysis has evolved to tell us more about ourselves
As the Central Statistics Office celebrates its 75th birthday, its reports continue to inform vital economic research and Government policy
No end to Ireland’s love affair with the banana
Price caps, a wartime supply freeze and colonial lobbying around the top table have been features of the economics of the fruit
Private landlords need incentives to retrofit their properties, otherwise it’s not financially worthwhile
Lower heating bills benefit tenants, not landlords, while rent caps mean they won’t get higher income from letting out cosier homes
The good news is the real economy is still growing strongly
The bad news is that critical infrastructure is lagging behind
Ireland badly needs to invest in infrastructure. That means more tax
Much of the cost of vital water, transport and energy investment falls to the Irish State, and that means more tax
Will the coming election manifestos tackle economic inequality and poverty?
Ireland’s disposable incomes have become so evenly distributed, we now outrank Sweden
Election budgets are not always giveaways
There is a long history of governments tightening spending even as an election looms
Irish governments largely ignored nationalist discrimination in the North for more than 50 years
Final deal to end economic war with the UK held favourable terms for the Republic but took no action on tackling discrimination in the North
EU’s knee-jerk return to national business subsidies could distort the single market in favour of larger states
Ireland’s new MEPs must build on good relations with our partners as global trade barriers come back in vogue and climate fatigue sets in
Housing Commission’s analysis of the crisis paints a mammoth challenge but falls down on one glaring contradiction
Targets will require extensive additional investment by State and access to foreign funding, but rent controls pose a problem
Despite what people may think, taxes in Ireland are low compared to Europe
The heavy lifting for the State is done by the levy on corporations
Some claims about the cost of a united Ireland don’t stack up
These are not harmless notions to drop into public discourse from the top of an ivory tower. Everyone involved should take more care
The ability of research to affect policy can be a waiting game
Ireland’s rampant inflation of the mid-1970s saw research insights rapidly translate to public policy
New EU tax on carbon imports could complicate things for Republic
Levy due in 2026 aims to address competitive gap opening between EU and countries which don’t price in climate costs associated with carbon emissions
How does a global pandemic affect birthrates?
Ireland saw no reductions in births related to the first pandemic lockdown, but 2021 saw a significant increase
An attempt to buy the next election with a giveaway budget would be a gross miscalculation
Spending more money would add to inflation without making us better off, whatever about its effects on voting behaviour
The world’s richest countries must invest in effective, cheap technologies to tackle climate change
There is a case to encourage European production of strategically important goods to guard against restrictions from other countries
We must do more to welcome Irish people returning home
Many returning emigrants are highly skilled and hugely valuable for our economy
Joe Brolly and Sinn Féin are sick of experts. Have any of them heard of Brexit?
The united Ireland conversation involves listening to people who don’t agree with you and whose advice you don’t want to hear
Privatising monopoly public utilities makes no sense
Experience in UK and with Eir is that private owners don’t invest in networks but just saddle companies with debt and take dividends
North’s ailing economy explains the high cost of unification
Regardless of the terms of disengagement by UK in any unification, there is no magic economic pill to bring NI up to standards down South
There’s no real competition in Irish banking
Exodus of foreign-owned banks after the crash has been costly for Ireland's bank customers and bad for the wider economy
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