Summary of ideas submitted in the Other category…

• Give a tax credit to those who use cheaper diesel rather than having two types of diesel, and use the customs and excise staff in more productive tasks.
• Give all EU citizens free travel in Ireland for a trial period of three months.
• Give all Irish businesses access to website construction, including Paypal, at vastly reduced cost, if not free. That way we immediately broaden our international markets.
• Give companies an incentive to maintain employment by using employment benefit, statutory redundancy payments and employer’s PRSI revenues.
• Give construction workers jobs instead of social welfare.
• Give discounts for early return of Form 11E and tax due.
• Give green card to non-EU citizens who are ready to invest more than €5 million in the country.
• Give individuals the opportunity to make additional voluntary PRSI payments through payroll in order to increase the amount of state pension they get when they reach pensionable age. This could be more attractive to some individuals as it would not be seen as risky as defined contributions into a company pension scheme.
• Give jobseekers jobs as civil servants.
• Give jobseekers permission to work for SME companies (without charge) while allowing them to continue to claim the dole.
• Give one day of your time or one day of your income for advancing the cause of Ireland. This is a cumulative process, and will start with pledges of cash or time.
• Give people in the public service a forum or a website that they can inform others of how to save or become more efficient.
• Give people more access to money so that they will spend and create growth.
• Give rich people recognition for paying large amounts of tax. For example anyone who pays over €1 million per year in tax can have their name associated with a project the money goes to fund.
• Give the job seekers allowance to employers to take on staff (one or two a week) instead of handing it out to people who are not working.
• Give unemployed trades people the opportunity to work a couple of days a week on government projects, paying them an hourly rate added onto their dole.
• Given that we import a large amount of energy at the moment and landfill huge quantities of cardboard, come up with a process via Bord na Mona to briquette said cardboard for use as a household fuel.
• Government could give an incentive to employers towards a new scheme called “Graduate Scheme for Employers”.
• Government issues a national five-year recovery bond issue (like SSIA system) at interest rates three points above ECB rates to attract monies being held back by people scared of current bank difficulties.
• Government scraps current pension provision for all public sector workers (including politicians), replacing it with a generous contribution to a private scheme.
• Government should immediately require that all escalators be fitted with infrared motion sensors so that when an escalator is approached it starts to move and when a person alights from the escalator it stops.
• Government should impose a policy requirement on banks to offer loyal business customers reduced bank fees. Government should also impose a policy requirement on banks whereby they must provide free internet banking to all customers in an effort to encourage more customers to move towards using such services.
• Government should introduce a carbon tax on all second-hand properties to be introduced before end of year under which all properties would have to be energy rated. This is currently the situation with all properties for sale or rent.
• Government should introduce regulations which will make public bodies obliged to obtain an Irish VAT number from the company before they can pay them, similar to the tax clearance and C2 requirement.
• Government should invest heavily in start-your-own-business courses. These courses should be run for people who have been made redundant. They should also be given tax-free allowance for the first year or two to set up a business and grants that give them slightly more then they would get on the dole.
• Government should launch a stimulus package for Ireland with the slogan ‘remove all prefabricated buildings from all schools and hospitals and improve sports facilities in schools’.
• Government should offer a guaranteed savings package to invest directly in government infrastructure.
• Government should run along lean flow principles. Have an expert in every government organisation to advise public bodies on how to run lean organisations while maximising efficiencies and improving value for money.
• Government should use their leverage to prevent the banks from charging a penalty should the mortgage holder wish to revert to a lower interest rate variable mortgage.
• Government to charge tax exiles for their passport.
• Government unit for investment in business/employment creating ventures.
• Government, in association with local authorities and state agencies, should implement policies to support community gardening projects.
• Government-sponsored or built super gyms/leisure centres on a Roman Empire scale, throughout the country.
• GPs should be allowed prescribe generic antibiotics, and pharmacy sells the cheapest version.
• Grant aid businesses, especially SMEs, who want to employ staff equivalent to what the individual would receive from social welfare and the employer ‘tops’ this up.