Summary of ideas submitted in the Policy category…

• Bus services should be upgraded to those of a modern society i.e. every 10 minutes or so.
• Bus tour operators should receive a 13.5% Vat reduction on diesel.
• Buy unsold houses from developers and resell as social and affordable housing.
• Calculate how much we need to reduce the cost of living in Ireland to be competitive.
• Call for a ‘Week of Honesty’ where the Government discloses how bad the situation really is. We need to know where the bottom is and what is required to take us out of it. The Government then needs to lead and make the harsh decisions required.
• Cap all ministerial and public salaries at €50,000 per annum.
• Cap all public service salaries at €100,000, including all TDs, cut back on public servants’ expense claims, and change Government cars to more economical models.
• Cap all state salaries at €100,000 per annum.
• Cap public service pensions.
• Centralise all public services.
• Centralise Government IT departments to save on related costs.
• CEO bonuses should be taxed at 80%.
• Change Inheritance Tax thresholds and rates.
• Change our tax bands to the UK’s levels.
• Change the VAT rate from 21% to 13.5% on items which can no longer be classed as luxuries
• Change the government, company and bank CEO’s
• Change the Government’s tendering process, within EU guidelines, to ensure that more work stays within Ireland.
• Change the way couples are taxed: i.e. one person should have double the single allowance in cases where only one of them is working.
• Charge a flat rate of income tax and one rate of VAT to simplify the system and abolish loopholes.
• Charge countries for our peace keeping and other caring services.
• Charge tax exiles a flat fee of €300,000 a year.
• Childcare fees should be tax free.
• Children’s allowance should be cross referenced with school attendance to ensure that only those resident in the state receive children’s allowance.
• Children’s allowance should be means tested, perhaps. Anyone earning over €70,000 per annum should not receive it. University education should also be means-tested in the same way.
• Cigarettes should only sold from special tobacco shops, state “tobacco outlets”.
• Citizens should pat health insurance at a higher rate when they are younger in return for reaping the rewards at a later stage in life.
• Close down FAS & allow the private sector to provide a similar service.
• Combine all the HSE’s purchasing power and tender for suppliers to cut costs.
• Companies could be asked to provide a week’s work at a low wage to unemployed people who would continue to receive benefits up to a maximum of €150 per week. Social Welfare offices could control and monitor to prevent abuse or fraud. Employers would hire people on the basis of job interviews to determine suitability.
• Compare salaries of civil servants with those in similar roles in the private sector and implement similar pay structures.
• Consolidate all army operations into the Curragh.
• Consolidate county councils into 4/5 regional authorities to reduce bureaucracy and costs.
• Continue with our overseas aid.
• Convert all existing civil service pension entitlements to a cash value.
• Coordinate ideas and policies meetings at a local level prior to local and European elections.