Summary of ideas submitted in the Other category…

• When starting up a business, for the first three years there should no rates and short-term office space made available on fixed, reasonable rates.
• When Trichet cuts interest rates in May down to 1%, the 0.5% cut should be replaced with a new tax on the €1.6 trillion of debt in the country. No one’s payments will increase and the €2-4 billion of tax collected on all functioning loans (interest paid) should be used to stimulate the economy with grants for new businesses, green grants, training etc.
• Where clients have been appraised and accepted to pay back €300,000 mortgage levels, why would the deposit still be required when the total borrowing requirement is €40,000 lower than the original approval level - don’t ban 100% mortgages.
• Where two parents are working, allow them to employ a nanny in their own home without having to pay employer PRSI, or alternatively introduce a reduced employer PRSI rate for this situation.
• Why are doctors and consultants running hospitals, and not businessmen who are both profit and performance-driven?
• Why do so many landlords refuse to register with the state or for that matter refuse to accept tenants on social welfare? Could it be that they don’t declare income for tax purposes? Using An Post’s database and computing power as well as Revenue’s resources it should be easy to raise income from this sector.
• Why doesn’t the Government borrow money (interest free) from us public sector workers for say two to 2.5 years and pay it back in full, instead of hitting us with cuts and more cuts?
• Why don’t the courts select people for jury service from those people that are unemployed?
• Why don’t we get all the people who are available to work to do something for the economy, such as those with skills in education or training, teaching in local school, helping the struggling teachers?
• With all these hotels closing down (many of which were built to offset tax by developers) why not purchase these empty shells of buildings and refurbish them into almost ready-made nursing homes/step down facilities?
• Wool from Irish sheep, especially on hill farms, brings in no money. House insulation using wool is an environmentally friendly way of insulating. Sheep farmers could have better revenue; house insulation can be achieved in an eco-friendly way by using Irish wool for house insulation or aspects of insulation.
• Work with land with a view to self-sufficiency.
• Zinc: we should encourage the Government to incentivise mineral exploration (as was done in the 1960s) so that new deposits can be found and developed and we can remain the main supplier of zinc in Europe, as well as preserving and creating jobs in mining.