Summary of ideas submitted in the Other category…

• A voluntary tax. Pay now - defer future liabilities post 2013.
• A website like a dating site or like a town-twining scheme where an Irish pub would be twinned with an overseas bar and could host exchange weekends.
• A website/database to marry healthy experienced and intelligent older people to those who need them in the social and voluntary sector. Services (both local and international), education, policy, professional - in practically all the categories of this campaign.
• Abolish all forms of tax credits, allowances and exemptions. Personal income tax should be paid at a level that increases with earnings.
• Abolish motor tax and replace with fuel levy.
• Abolish motor tax and transfer the tax onto fuel.
• Abolish reserve defence forces and spend money on education.
• Abolish subsidies asap for flights from regional airports to Dublin.
• Abolish time and a half and double time for hours worked above normal hours.
• Across rural Ireland a network of parish halls/small sports facilities should be built that could be used by the local communities and visiting tourists. This would serve the family end of the tourist market.
• Actively seek expressions of interest from people who have three to four years to go before they reach their retirement age and would be willing to take an early retirement package. Rather than paying the lump sum immediately stagger it over five years.
• Add a 2 or 3 cent tax to text messages
• Adjust VAT rates.
• Adopt a Christian ethos to our lifestyles.
• Adoption of microfinance operations for small enterprises in low income areas to boost local economy.
• Advertise online.
• After all these wonderful ideas are put into place it would only be fitting to celebrate with a memorable day and this could be an opportunity to raise funds for our most vulnerable and let down, i.e. our homeless, our elderly, and our sick people. We could have our very own Live Aid style day.
• All employees and managers must focus on efficiency and be willing to change to ensure the business is robust, and in turn save their jobs.
• All excess property should be bought up by the Government, at cost price or maybe a little less. Contract people on the dole to work for the Government, at a specified salary lower than the standard industrial wage (why lower? Because they will have free housing as long as they work for the Government).
• All financial institutions in Ireland should be separated so that if one were to collapse other industries would remain intact.
• All government bodies (enterprise boards, Enterprise Ireland etc) including the Cabinet, all of which are dealing with potential and existing entrepreneurs, should be audited to ensure that each of these are populated with people who understand business and the mindset of the entrepreneur.
• All jobs available should be listed with local Citizens Information Centres.
• All knowledge in existence is doubling every eight months, so the old ways may not be suitable to this bold new world. Introduce a Minister for Thinking as proposed by Dr Edward De Bono.
• All liability insurers are obliged to carry enormous reserves against possible future compensation awards/settlements. A substantial proportion of these reserves be transferred to a central fund, similar to the pension fund, and controlled by a specialist.
• All people who are on the live register to do possibly five hours or one day a week in a local company or some type of local service in lieu of payment of their benefit.
• All politicians should be paid the basic industrial wage.
• All politicians to produce receipts for any expenses occurred. No receipts, no money back.
• All recipients to work in a child care or other carer’s facility while their children are being cared for by the state.
• All residential property should be handed to local authorities for use a social housing. Vacate sites, depending on location; type of site (green field, brown field or commercial) should be allocated to state or local authorities for lease to community or sports organisations.
• All TDs and Senators to take significant pay cuts and reform of their committee expenses.
• All wages and remunerations in the public sector are reduced by 30%. All public sector charges are reduced by 25%.
• Allow all employed people two visits per year to their GP on their PRSI contributions - the cost of a GP visit is prohibitive so people don’t go early or don’t go at all and end up losing more work time to illness, costing business more.
• Allow bikes on the Luas and the Dart.
• Allow co-operatives for parents/employees to be formed throughout the many estates/companies across the country to develop reasonable childcare facilities, that would not be overly regulated or progress stopped by all the governmental red tape. They would be part run by the parents/employees within the estate/company. That way, parents can have a real choice of ‘local’ childcare at reasonable prices.
• Allow everyone who has a paid-up pension plan to access their funds now. This would help consumer spending and it would also help a lot of people who are trying to make ends meat.