The Ideas Campaign - latest sample of ideas received since campaign launch

All island economy

May I suggest to the Ideas Campaign that an appeal be set up nationwide to specifically help anyone financially who has lost a family home through the recession and who has to continue paying a mortgage.

To follow my late husband’s example I am very happy to pledge a donation towards such an appeal. A suitable motto could be “Is feidir linn”.

* (This idea is very long and detailed and has had to be edited for space reasons).

All island economy

I believe the government should do a review of business in Ireland and in as much as possible identify organisations that are in jeopardy of closing down. Rather than let these companies close I believe the government should allow some relief to them to continue trading.

For example the business could be allowed to forego their contribution to PAYE and/or VAT for a period of time. Naturally there has to be strict criteria defining which organisations can avail of these exemptions.

The benefits for the government are:-

1. They will continue to receive income tax from the organisations employees

2. The will not have to pay the statutory redundancy payments.

3. They will not have to pay social welfare benefits.

4. Local economies will continue to have the benefits of consumer spending.

Construction

Construction projects like metro etc. should be outsourced to international experts like Japan with the clause that they should invest and earn nearly 50% of income by running the services for nearly 5 years after completion. This may bring foreign investment, help local people to get employed in the construction projects, receive optimal project costs, enable learning from better construction firms and later will provide understanding of running services like the metro privately.

Construction

Our government pays out hundreds of millions each year on foreign aid (and rightly so), but instead of sending the money to (sometimes) dictator ran countries, why not benefit ourselves as well as the countries affected?

The idea is that out of work construction & medical workers would be given the option to move to some of the countries that we support for a limited period. Instead of us paying into a foreign account we agree to pay these workers wages to an Irish a/c. In return, the workers offer their services to the countries that badly need our help. The people on the ground are guaranteed the help they need, the risk of the funds going into their leaders back pockets is nullified and we gain by keeping this money in our economy.

Education

Attract more middle class Chinese people to travel to Ireland. The population in China is 1.3bn. If you can get 1% of people to travel to Ireland instead other European countries and make the visa process easier, this will be attractive to the Chinese. In the Chinese culture, people always buy lots of presents when they go abroad. The lovely Irish hand made craft and other designer items in the shops, will be attractive to them.

All the resources in Ireland are all ready to use, no investment is needed. The only thing needed now is to advertise in China, make them aware how lovely a country Ireland is. Lots of Chinese people love River Dance!

* (This idea is very long and detailed and has had to be edited for space reasons).

Education

Consider making the visa process easier to attract more Chinese students to carry out their higher education in Ireland. England and Ireland are really only the English speaking countries in Europe. We should use this resources to make more Chinese students come here and not England.

The one child policy still exists in China; all the parents want to give their child the best, going abroad and having an education will give the child competitive advantage for their future. No need to worry that they will never go back to China, as most young people currently living in Ireland want to go back to home after they gain a few years work experience. If you want to review this idea, simply do a survey among the young students in Ireland.

* (This idea is very long and detailed and has had to be edited for space reasons).

Education

There should be more emphasis put on science from a much earlier stage in school. If as a country we aim to be a very highly educated society then science and technology is the way forward. Getting kids interested at a young age (as in during primary school) in science is much easier than waiting to secondary school and letting kids who do not understand the scope of the choices to pick science subjects.

Having worked with kids to give a demonstration in this area I found that simple experiment like throwing a bit of sodium into water and watching it fizz and bang or showing some tricks using lasers and prisms etc really gets kids interested in the science subjects.

As a side note I believe the current system in place for children making the switch from primary to secondary school and then again from junior certificate to leaving certificate is completely wrong. Giving children the choice to pick which subjects to study is a very innovative idea and has to be commended. But I don’t believe that the children at that age are aware of the implications of their choices. It is only when it comes to looking at the CAO form in 5th or 6th year that you realise that certain college subjects require you to have certain subjects in the leaving cert. this needs to be addressed to ensure that people have an equal opportunity to do whatever college course they want and not be punished by bad choices when they are 12 years old!

I know these ideas may not help in the short term to get the economy back up and running but it will help in the long run by helping to move the economy to a science based economy with high level of education.

Green business

We have a chronic traffic problem within Dublin, with the introduction of the cycle to work scheme this provides a good basis to go on from. Cycle lanes have been a growing sight around Dublin, varying in quality. I would suggest the biggest problem facing the uptake of this is people that would be more than a couple of miles from there work and would not have locker & washing facilities at there places of business. This discourages people from cycling.

If all new business premises over a sq footage were required to provide shower facilities (planning requirement) along with a grant to retrofit existing premises this would have a three fold effect firstly encourage people to become healthier (reducing health problems), creating construction work and reduce pressure on the roads. The benefits of this are long term and localised but would be significant.

Green business

Green cones and composting. A lot of waste still goes into our bins costing bin charges and causing landfill. There is a product on the market called a ‘Green cone’ where all raw and cooked food products can be put into these cones  and the green cone product which is a natural food digester reduces your waste to its natural components of water, carbon dioxide and depending on conditions a very small amount of residue.

If schools had composters and green bins, they would save on bin charges and could have free compost for their gardens while being kinder to the environment. A programme could be run in the schools and the children would help make their parents more aware.

Green cones could also be sited in apartment complexes and in green areas in estates or adjacent to recycling facilities. Companies could also be encouraged to have composters and green cones. This would help with waste disposal problems everywhere. Especially in areas that are badly affected by employment, allotments could be made available. This would help people grow their own fruit and vegetables and help disadvantaged people save money. There could be composters and green cones sited on the allotments and obviously the compost could be put to good use there.

Green business

There was a recent announcement about building projects for schools around the country. As part of the plans for these schools, solar panels should be installed on the roofs of each of the schools while they are being built. This would have many benefits for both the schools and green business around the country:

1) The schools will save on their electricity andor heating bills.

2) Green business will be further stimulated with the newly secured business.

3) The promotion of Green Energy Production can be shown to the children of the country on a direct basis.

There is also the obvious benefit to the environment from the removal of tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Think of the possibility of having, even a quarter of, all the electricity or heating for schools being practically free!

Green Business

Rain water harvesting should be promoted in local towns within Ireland. This will hugely benefit small towns within Ireland. Regular rains within Ireland can make rain harvesting a very easy, reasonable and self-sustaining way to cater for local drinking water demands.

Innovation

We need to create jobs. Jobs that drive export revenue are valuable. Knowledge is key. Four technologies are fast-track changing our world: radio frequency identification (RFID), nano, quantum computing and wireless innovations.

My idea is simple. We scan the world for technologies at market-entry point, and via ‘license deals’ we market these technologies from Ireland to the world. Against this strategy we focus on technologies that add value to business efficiency, sustainability, energy efficiency, environmentally positive & green, health, and security. These new businesses will be flat, ethical, socially aware entities (not just profit driven), matching technology with real global and business problems. We can create thousands of new businesses quickly as we are at the start of the curve in emerging technologies. We just need to define the template so that the license deals and businesses can start immediately at low cost.

Imagine what we can do with a small team focused and driven. Ireland is just a small country to feed, the brand is so positive abroad and we have never had so much potential to drive growth and success whilst doing good.

Innovation 

Mobile technology and mobile usage is one area where Ireland is actually ahead of most other countries and it therefore represents an enormous opportunity for Ireland to take a leading role in the next technology wave which is being driven by mobile technologies and the convergence of the mobile phone with the PC. Ireland consistently scores highest in text message usage as compared with other countries.

Mobile banking and mobile payment: now that the Government has a major stake in the banks, they should use this as a way to turn Ireland into the world’s leading market for mobile banking and mobile payment technologies.

The phone of the future is going to be the primary device for making all kinds of transactions and payments - why not encourage and incentivise the Irish banks to offer these services to their customers first, working with some of the key players in the Irish market who provide technology in this area.

 The government could lead by example and facilitate innovation and leadership for Irish companies. By doing so they would show other companies throughout the private sector in Ireland - large brands, retailers, transport companies, SMEs, etc. - the competitive advantages they can get by integrating mobile technology into their business.

* (This idea is very long and detailed and has had to be edited for space reasons).

Innovation

Very small or new towns like Lucan, Adamstown etc. in Ireland should be setup as testing grounds for new technologies / innovations. International companies should be able to distribute their innovations like gaming consoles, laptops, food/cleaning etc products to these towns and results/feedback can be collated that will be beneficial for such companies. Companies will benefit for results from communities that are available to test such innovations. Communities will benefit from the promotions. Ireland will benefit from their provision of such a service and companies can be charged for provision to such testing grounds.

Pharmaceutical / bio pharmaceutical / medical devices

We should have a radical look at the clinical trials directive and its application to Ireland. Major drug companies have pulled out of Ireland as a clinical trial base because of bureaucratic legislation and difficulties in running such trials in Ireland. A task force should be in place to look at impediments that could be smoothed to bring back this lucrative source of income.

Policy

The Government has to raise a lot of money to meet the increasing demands. The bloodstock industry has never been taxed to date. There are huge ‘cover fees’ for stud horses. I suggest that VAT at the highest rate be introduced for this industry which has always escaped taxation. It is after all a ‘luxury’ industry.

Policy

Tax incentives should be available for companies that setup businesses in small towns like Wicklow, Wexford etc. This will help in generation of jobs in counties other than Dublin. This will create a local working culture and develop new towns within the country. It will also prompt service providers like telecom and broadband etc. to provide reasonable offerings in all counties. Additionally, it may reduce carbon footprint as people will commute shorter distances.

Policy

Small businesses - which have a turnover of under €500,000 per year, should have a VAT holiday, to enable us to get through these very difficult times. When things get better, it can be re-introduced. It would be seen as a symbolic support for small businesses and help alleviate the huge pressure.

 Retail

There must be so many “riches” (shoes, clothing, handbags, hats etc) lying around idle in people’s lofts and attics or hanging idle in cupboards - all relics and products from the Celtic Tiger-boom. Items that are very often quite new and not often worn. Something should be done with those riches!

Suggestions:

1. Create the (economic) environment for the set up by private individuals of good second hand outlet-shops. Copy the way these chains are organised.

2. Create a tax / financial environment in which these individuals can set up their outlets - both from their own homes (in residential areas) and / or at affordable rates from venues in shopping malls that are currently empty. Knife cuts both ways: an active flow of low-profit commerce in 2nd hand clothes is assured, while the shopping malls do not have dreary looking empty spaces, no squatters, and no vandalism.

3. Simultaneously: set up of an awareness-campaign in the Irish media (for instance breakfast news on radio and local newspapers) that Celtic Tiger way of thinking is out.  The campaign should underline that status symbols of the tiger-period are no longer seen as status symbols, that taking active part in riding the wave of recession is cool and a sensible way also in the years to come, to be kept going even after the recession will have ceased to be. People should become aware of the fact that they are not the helpless victims of the recession, but that they have a choice and be creative.

(This idea is very long and detailed and has had to be edited for space reasons). 

Services (local)

Investors should be encouraged to open and run more private hospitals like Beacon to provide private maternity and other surgeries. Government should provide free land to such investors in return for a joint share of profits from such hospitals. This will help in long-term revenues, possible reduction in long waiting for surgeries and learning’s from running private hospitals may help in improving public hospital facilities or vice-versa.

Sport

I have noticed that due to negative PR in relation to the various corporate boxes that are owned by the financial institutions in Croke Park that in certain cases and specifically the Anglo Irish Bank Corporate box that they have been instructed not to use them so they now remain empty for all matches at the venue.

My idea is that all financial institutions at the insistence of the government now open these boxes to charities and disadvantaged children’s causes such as Barretstown and treat our young and disadvantaged kids to a great day out courtesy of the people of Ireland. It would make a big difference rather than the bankers “entertaining” so called clients at our expense. Who knows it might even inspire a new generation of sports stars in our country. The key here is to PR that initiative in order that everyone gets to know about it.

Tourism

Given that tourism is so important to Ireland, it is amazing how grotty the scenic parts of the country have become. Would it be possible to offer people living in designated tourist spots a free review of their property outlining how it could be made more in tune with the landscape and (in many cases) less of an eyesore? Follow this up with subsidies for renovation work and we could see construction workers back in business and rusty old corrugated sheds replaced with locally sourced stone and slate out-buildings.

Tourism

The government need to review the Cork to Swansea car ferry service. The loss of this service has a big effect on tourism in Cork and Kerry. People in these two counties are trying to collect 3 million from business people to restore this service as the government won’t pay this.  If this service was up and running, lots of tourists would avail of it, and the 3 million would be back in the country in no time as tourists coming have a knock on effect for all hotels, shops, bars, restaurants, bookmakers, service stations and employment.

The Ideas Campaign - latest sample of ideas received since campaign launch

Construction

Allow/encourage/facilitate the construction sector to operate three 8-hour shifts per day, especially on infrastructure projects (e.g. new roads) where there will be no/minimal disturbance from noise/light pollution during evening and night shifts. This will speed up these projects, and increase employment in the short term, and might get us over the hump until things start improving. It will also see us better placed to capitalise when the recovery comes.

Culture

Consideration should be given to insist that at least 10% of all advertising revenue for the TV channels should be directed towards the development of home produced TV programmes and films. This would incentivise the TV channels to commission home produced programmes, creating employment opportunities. This country needs a TV and film industry, and some people may think we have one, but it is based on exploitation and a hand to mouth existence.

Education

My idea is one that could solve the university fee problem as well as creating employment. It would be in the form of a government run ‘third-level credit’ scheme.

For at least a year after leaving school, students would work in community-service jobs such as: visiting elderly folk, cleaning beaches and forests, and earn credits for their college fund.

They could also receive a basic living wage and would have the option of working longer hours for extra pay if they wished. They would have to build up a minimum number of credits in order to secure their place. They could also receive credits based on their performance in transition-year projects and other extra-curricular achievements throughout their second-level schooling. Jobs would be created at a supervisory and management level.

In addition to saving families the burden of having to pay large fees, students would have more time to decide what they really wanted to study (or not) and there would be a natural opt-out from those who really didn’t want to attend college in the first place.

Education

There is much talk today of the importance the teaching of foreign language at primary level education, this would be a very expensive and yet a vital introduction as Ireland is currently ranked amongst the worst in Europe at learning foreign languages.  A stigma we need to change if we want to build up any sort of a reputation.

I propose that while the government is waiting to introduce it into the curriculum they should issue a recommendation to all schools to try and organise after school classes in languages such as Chinese, Spanish, and French etc. It would cost the government nothing, and all the principal or the teacher in the school would have to do is find a teacher to teach the language. The school could charge the teacher 2 euro per student per class they take. This would provide extra spending money for the school and a job for a potential unemployed person.

Green business

The generation of electricity from renewable energies, and wind energy in particular. Its biggest drawback is that the renewable energy is variable. Therefore storage and electricity interconnection to other markets are key.

I believe that the construction of several pumped storage hydro electricity plants, like Turlough Hill, would greatly increase Ireland’s security of supply and allow us to bring more wind energy onto the grid. The efficiency of these plants would be 60-70%, which would be more efficient than other alternatives such as storing the energy in a chemical form i.e. hydrogen, methane.

Innovation

In trying to set up a new business recently I experienced a delay with the Companies Registration Office of 3-4weeks to register the business name and provide documents - even if you submit new company or trading name details online. On contacting the CRO I understand that the turnaround time has been up to two months until recently. If any new business wants to open a bank account or register a .ie website they need these documents from the CRO first, so are at a virtual stand still. This does not encourage or assist new business in Ireland.

Therefore my idea to assist all new businesses setting up in Ireland is simple

1. Take the necessary number of people off the dole and give them a job in new business registrations in the CRO.
2. Define a service deadline (like any other commercial business) of 24hours processing time from the CRO for any new business registration. Every day lost for a new business is critical.

Innovation

This idea aims to address the difficulty we have with innovation in Ireland and to support our small companies to become more research intensive. At the core of the idea is that we need to develop our skills in the adoption and use of new technologies (not just their development for export) and the government has a responsibility to take a lead in this.

One of the significant challenges for the creation of innovative companies in Ireland is the lack of a local market - Ireland is not, with rare exceptions, an early adopter of new technologies or services.

We should aim to unlock the expertise in the civil and public services and encourage them to act as innovation partners by procuring innovation from small companies at the cutting edge of research - e.g. have the Gardai procure research projects to develop innovative security systems, have the Dept of Education procure research to design new innovative educational technologies, have the Dept of Health procure research into new medical products…

Industry can be encouraged to participate in this scheme by allowing money spent via this mechanism to count towards an R&D tax credit.

 (This idea is very long and detailed and has had to be edited for space reasons).

Manufacturing

Waste to insulation. Turn waste and recycled glass into insulation in the form of foamed glass. We currently export waste glass for recycling.

Policy

I propose that there are no more Lotto ‘roll overs’ during this recession. If there is no winner of the weekly Jackpot the money should be allocated to a specific government department to reduce budget deficit. I am sure the people of Ireland would support this.

Policy 

There should be a national regulation that all energy and water monitoring systems in Irish buildings must be continuously monitored using low cost wireless technology, by 2011. This will result in a ‘live’ map of energy and water consumption in Ireland. Assuming a number of devices per building this will create a market demand which will help develop an indigenous wireless and industry in Ireland and make Ireland a leader in this field, if managed correctly.

(Ireland lead the world in trans-Atlantic wireless 100 years ago, we need another Marconi!!)

Policy

I work as a Garda. My colleagues and I spend a huge amount of time attempting to execute warrants. These arise out of unpaid fines issued in courts. The “offender” has been fined, say €100 or 5 days imprisonment in default of payment. They often ignore or forget to pay the fine and a warrant is issued.    

A Garda may accept payment of the fine, or the Garda can take the offender to prison to serve the sentence stated on the warrant. People are taken to prison for sums of money less than €100. This person then spends a few days in prison for non-payment of a relatively small amount of money.  Also, policy states I must take this person to prison by taxi!

I recently brought a man to prison for an unpaid fine in the region of €500. The taxi cost around €350! Never mind the cost of two Gardaí to accompany him. My suggestion is that people, on conviction, should provide their bank account details or a consent form for deductions to be made by their employer or social welfare department.

A direct debit/pay deduction at source could be consented to, which would allow that person to pay their fine at an agreeable amount over a given period. Even people in receipt of social welfare should be in a position to pay fines in a drip-feed manner. A person paying a mere €2 a week would have a €100 fine paid off within a year which is a lot quicker than many warrants in the present system. If the offender stopped payments before completion, a warrant could then issue and be executed as they are now. This would save countless Garda hours, prison places and the ridiculous scenario of using taxis to transport prisoners.

This would cost nothing to implement and could automatically eliminate tens of thousands of warrants executed by Gardaí every year. I hope this falls within the scope of your campaign. If not, please feel free to pass it on to anyone you fell may have an interest.

Retail

Encourage the removal of the copper coins, having the lowest denomination the 5 cent coin. This has to be a handling nightmare for retailers. I don’t believe their value exceeds their handling costs to both people and government. Although this might be hard to achieve because of Europe. It’s worth looking into.

Services (International)

As we cannot compete with low cost based manufacturing it is time that we look at exporting or providing business knowledge to the eastern European countries that are currently able to manufacture. What I mean by this is as follows; we set up an Irish company which hires the best minds available in every field of business from management right through to sales. 

As with most eastern European companies the majority of the management skills are developed from the old soviet style working system and this is a major hindrance to there expansion and work practices. The company would then negotiate a share holding in the company and provide all the relevant experience required to build the company up, producing a higher value on the company what this in turn will achieve for the Irish company is bring in revenue which is passed on to the economy in its self creating more jobs at home with the spending available to the staff and taxes and also as the company is expanding giving it a larger presence on the international stage thus giving it the snow ball effect and over a period of time a highly valuable Irish company which has an Irish workforce but works completely outside of the island.

Services (local)

Have a system whereby loss making companies can apply to stay open by employing university students on short term work experiences in fields generally related to their course subjects/expected career area, similar to UL’s co-op programme. Only loss making companies could qualify and any excess profit made would be given to the state. Students would be able to write off this work against student fees which are inevitably going to come in. The state benefits by having the permanent workers still in work instead of paying unemployment benefit. Students benefit by getting relevant, hands on experience and potential employment prospects with these companies when the economy turns around and would pay less college fees

Technology

LED based lights present a much more efficient and cost effective solution which can not only save the public money in the long run but will also pay for the roll-out across the country. There should be an immediate ban on the purchase of any incandescent light bulbs for street lamps, if one breaks; it’s replaced with an LED based bulb instead. A program needs to be implemented to convert all street lamps to use LED bulbs.

Benefits - drastically reduced electricity costs (up to 88%) in some instances

- LED Bulbs have a much longer lifespan than incandescent bulbs

- Reduced ongoing maintenance costs (the bulbs are practically indestructible)

- Reduced carbon emissions to help us with our EU targets

Tourism

Our tourism product is in need of development and diversification in an era when Irish weather has become (even more!) unpredictable, prices are high by international standards, and low airfares and packages are available to a myriad of destinations with at least semi-guaranteed good weather.

Hotels need to be proactive and organise more themed weekends (from mystery weekends to ballroom or ceilí dancing to bridge) to tempt people away for a winter break at affordable prices. Heritage tourism and specifically-themed tourism packages need to be further developed and promoted. In general, we need a far better selection of tour products … at the moment, the only well-known options are the high-priced luxury hotel based bus tours (mostly availed of by American visitors) and the very successful Paddywagon tours which are geared mostly to backpackers.

Shorter 2 / 3 day bus tours, with good standard but more affordable accommodation, need to be developed. Or why not offer, for example, the facility to book a variety of tours of Ireland using your own car, where the supplier books you into suitable accommodation each night and provides you with a range of itineraries / options for each day (based on your stated interests) to choose from as you travel by easy stages around the country / your chosen region? For those coming from abroad, a hire car might be an optional part of the package.

Transport

The Idea: “car pooling” is famous and successful wherever it was applied. This is in practice for many other developed cities.

The solution: Provide the permission to use the bus lanes for cars which carry 3 or more adults during busy hours. How it works: Find people from the neighbourhood or on the route that has a similar destination and share the car with them. When the passengers are 3 or more they can use the bus lanes to reach their destination. This can be done creating a website for people to find their fellow passengers.

Benefits:

1. If 4 people are sharing a car, this will take 3 cars off the road during busy hours. I have noticed that 90% of the cars, using the city roads in the morning, carry a single person. When 3 cars are off the road 3 parking spaces will be created in city. Three car spaces will be created on the road. Fewer cars means less pollution to the environment. Less petrol will be used. Fewer cars on the road, means traffic will move faster.

2. Each week each person can bring the car so that they all can share the cost equally without paying to each other

3. The single parking space can be used for all four cars. The less demand for parking spaces will also bring down the parking charges and waiting time to park vehicles.

4. While travelling to city I have also noticed that the bus lanes are free most of the times. The taxi’s do take only 15 or 20 minutes to reach city in the morning. If people are allowed to use bus lanes they can reach their destination in good time, which will definitely contribute to production hours. More production means more income generation.

* (This idea is very long and detailed and has had to be edited for space reasons).

Transport

In the US, you can turn right at a red light (In our case, left). This could have the effect of freeing up traffic, shorter journey times for deliveries, and a positive impact on the environment with less stationary engines turning over.

The Ideas Campaign - latest sample of ideas received since campaign launch

All island economy

A recession is not necessarily a bad thing as it weeds out inefficiencies and those businesses that survive will be more efficient, productive and profitable. The Irish State must be viewed as a business. We the taxpayers do not pay taxes just to provide jobs. We pay taxes so that services are administered.

We need to get more value out of our public service. This means we need a measurement stick with definitive key performance indicators (KPI’s) which every section of our public sector needs to be measured against.

Lastly the economic downturn is affecting everyone and we are seeing people from all walks of life on the dole. Our government speaks of re-educating our workforce and the country is awash with empty office space.

Why not take the better educated in our society i.e. architects, engineers, and accountants etc and put their teaching their skills to those out of work in these unused office buildings.

Construction

After the property boom there are a number of housing estates whose upkeep is the responsibility of estate management companies or the estate property developers.

There are many recorded cases where these management companies do not fulfil their responsibility for cutting green areas, maintaining walkways and other general up keeping duties.

The consumer ombudsman could establish guidelines of minimum standards for upkeep and when these standards are not met that fines be imposed on the property developer/management company.

In extreme cases the ombudsman could insist that the estate be handed over to the local authority and that the fee for this is paid immediately by the offender.

Green business

Any PC that does not need to be on should be turned off at the end of the user’s day. This could result in a saving of approximately 10 - 50 euro a year. Virus and other PC updates that are normally run at night should be run at lunchtime instead.

Education

How to provide greater efficiency in education:

a. Index each school according to its socio-economic status e.g. average net income per family. Set targets for measurable educational performance e.g. scores on standardized literacy, numeracy tests based on the index.

Teachers should be paid by results achieved by students i.e. a flat rate plus bonus for achievement.

Result: increased work by teachers, increased performance by students, better economy.

b. Teachers often complain of an over-crowded curriculum i.e. they don’t have time to cover various areas effectively. A solution here would be to extend school opening hours. School opening hours are often treated as maximum hours for school operation, when they should be treated as minimum hours. Teachers could be compensated for this by a pro rata reduction in tax. Provide greater mobility for teachers to work between schools rather than being confined to one school.

c. Ensure alignment between current and emerging needs of industry and education courses and have a monitoring agency to ensure this.

* (This idea is very long and detailed and has had to be edited for space reasons).

Innovation

With increasing numbers of people requiring the unemployment benefit, why are we not using these people and resources to build back up our economy? We need to gather a database of volunteers who are claiming the unemployment benefit but still want to still work.

Many of them are highly qualified and currently bored sitting at home without any work. We should introduce a mentoring/volunteering or training type role and introduce them to new start up companies that require many of these services; IT, sales, accounting.

People can then get extra credit/benefits or even just some experience for their CV when they choose to volunteer. It’s also a great networking tool where local people and companies can help each other out.

Action: Create a website

1. Add entry point for volunteers. Choose sector - give brief bio of experience and hours that they are willing to give.

2. Add entry point for people/companies that require help - they choose sector - can view profile of volunteers experience and choose to get to contact with these people.

The website can then rate volunteers and gives feedback and the website can have levels of involvement required (full time, x days, part time, consultant). For example: New start up companies required IT person for 4 weeks to build website.

Policy

This idea is a workable transparent means for local authority funding that should be a ‘win win’. The idea is simple and as follows; that the existing method of levying local authority rates should be abolished because it has resulted in a property tax which was never the intention.

It also places rural local authorities in a very vulnerable position in the current climate because of business closures.

Revenue should be empowered to centrally collect local taxes by way of percentage of turnover as with VAT. Businesses such as medical, dental & chemists with a guaranteed turnover, legal, accountancy, etc are currently deprived of paying their fair share of local authority rates, yet their clients many of whom are in the overburdened service industry are struggling to survive.

Policy

Issue: The amount of people buying houses is quite low as they fear the house price will go down in value once they buy it and so are waiting for prices to hit the bottom.

Solution: The government should buy up these available houses and sell them to the people at a discounted price. These houses could be bought in large quantities at a lower price as developers are eager to sell.

Benefits:

• People would begin to purchase again.
• House prices would begin to balance out.
• People would not be renting but have a place to call their own.
• Developers would be in a position to repay their loans
• Banks would increase profit through mortgage increases
• Banks share price would in turn increase
• With houses selling and the property market improving it would create some employment in the construction industry
• Marginal increase in value of properties would help those in negative equity
• Increase in mortgages would mean increase in revenue for the government
• More jobs for valuers for pricing homes

Policy

We, as employers are constantly bombarded with TV and radio campaigns warning of the dire consequences of submitting late tax returns. In addition it seems we are penalised personally for becoming employers by being denied the same social welfare benefits that employees get.

I have lived abroad and having worked as an employee I discovered that other countries encourage people to set up their own business and give tax breaks for those willing to do so.

I think a system should be put in place to reward those who create employment. After all it is the employer who collects and submits the employee’s taxes on behalf of the government and it appears that in this country you would be mad to become an employer due to the way that penalties go with the position and also the rights employees have nowadays.

Quite simply if you have a good employee you will look after him/her and ensure they are happy with their job.

There is no need for the anti employer measures that enable an employee to almost do what he/she likes knowing that the LRC will award them money should they leave or be fired.

Policy

In order to increase work, the population and jobs, the government must revise its policy towards immigration and naturalisation.

Instead of deterring people going out of Ireland, they must encourage people to stay and fill all the necessary jobs in the country where the Irish are reluctant to fill.

For example, because the government does not have a proper legislation governing residents from other EU and non-EU countries, people are forced to emigrate to other countries (like Australia, Canada and New Zealand) that have a much more stable legislation on citizenship, working visas and immigration.

Additionally, the government could allow people who have tourist visas to apply to work in Ireland. Even small jobs such as catering, bartending in the tourism industry, maintenance work like those that would only require a two week contract. This would attract many people from other countries to come visit Ireland.

Services (international)

Based on the model of the IFSC we should set up an International Marketing Services Centre. International brands such as Coca Cola, Dove, Ford and Sony run international marketing campaigns as well as local marketing campaign. These international campaigns are planned and created in and deployed from various global centres such as New York, London, Milan and Tokyo.

They use a wide range of international marketing services including above the line advertising (planning, creative and media buying), below the line direct marketing, digital and sponsorship. Many of these international agencies already have a presence in the Irish market.

Using a similar tax incentive model to the IFSC we should entice these global marketing agencies to relocate their international marketing teams here.

The creation and implementation of a campaign employs hundreds of high end skilled people such as planners, account directors, account executives, creative teams, producers, and digital programmers and media planners.

We could offer international marketing teams incentives to create and run these global campaigns out of Ireland.

There are hundreds of international brands and agencies spending billions of euro running international campaigns. Ireland could become the leading global centre for International marketing. There is the potential to create thousands of jobs for Irish graduates. International marketing is a skilled profession. Perfect for an open economy such as ours.

* (This idea is very long and detailed and has had to be edited for space reasons).

Sport

More mountain bike and running trails need to be added to our forests around the country. There is a fantastic facility in Ballyhoura in Limerick but more are needed. Individual sports such as adventure racing and triathlon are achieving double digit growth in Ireland.

We have excellent natural resources all around. Jobs will be created in the construction, maintenance and marketing of these trails. There are huge health and tourism benefits to be realised. The Finns, Scots and Kiwis lead the field in this regard. Coillte have an excellent recreation policy in place but more funding is needed to realise the potential of these resources.

Sport

Low cost self-esteem boost - support for economically/socially disadvantaged people to train for and run a marathon. I have got great satisfaction from training for and running marathons. Apart from health benefits, the training is a great stress release, gives a structure and an achievable goal.

We also read in running magazine stories of people who have found running helped get through difficult times, e.g. bereavement, and one man even credits it with keeping him off drugs. The idea would involve a small financial contribution in the form of basic running kit including shoes (about €100) and the race entry fee (about €50).

Training could be provided under a FÁS scheme, perhaps bringing in trainee or qualified physical therapists or physical education teachers. Volunteers from running clubs and sports clinics could provide training, mentoring and education, e.g. on stretching to avoid injury. Anyone can run, even if they are terrible at other sports, and that is part of the appeal. It needs little equipment and no gym membership. All it takes is determination (and shoes).

The benefit is the reward of setting a goal, putting in the work and achieving it, which could be a first for many people who have not had the opportunity to succeed at something before.

Sport

Let’s get outside in the evenings and at weekends and revive our parks. Going out for a walk, a run, for sports or to play with the kids is free, sociable, and healthy.

It could really boost our quality of life, sense of community and reduce our expenditure on healthcare and organised entertainment. Tag rugby has got lots of people out of the pub and into the fresh air. We need more initiatives of this kind and more city and county council pitches devoted to new, inclusive pursuits.

Tourism

Ireland has significant opportunities in tourism. Ireland has a very rich history that touches upon multiple facets of life. Several others commented on “themed tourism” packages.

As a U.S. citizen who has travelled numerous times to Ireland (and now, a tax-paying resident in the Republic of Ireland), I can tell you that such themed tourism ideas would work very well for tourists coming from the U.S.

• Tourism theme examples:
• Archaeological tours
• Traditional Irish Music tours
• Irish Christian History tours
• General Irish history tours
• Surfing, Sailing, other water sport tours.
• Photography, visual artist tours

Tourism

My idea is another idea about speciality tourism. Saint Valentine is buried in Whitefriar Street in Dublin. I don’t understand why this fact is not harnessed as a tourism product by Dublin Tourism.

I am aware that the Japanese are quite knowledgeable about Saint Valentine’s association with Dublin, but generally, tourists appear to be unaware of it. To my mind, there is enormous scope for developing a romance tourism product with this idea.

If we can create a tourism product for Saint Patrick in the Saint Patrick’s festival, then why can’t Dublin create a similar tourism product for Saint Valentine? I believe it would give a great tourism boost mid winter.

Tourism

Increase dramatically the input from women (including public forums / TV programmes) in the design of hotels, bars and restaurants. It is so obvious that all these things are designed by men. Women know what is ideal for families, for couples, for single women.

Even families with high incomes have family holidays independently in caravans because hotels do not provide for their needs. Smaller details of design are important also such as insufficient lighting in rest rooms, coat hooks to hang one’s coat! When designing they should think of the person and their reason for entering a public hostelry.

What about the person who does not drive and comes in from the elements with coats and shopping bags? What are their immediate needs?

What about ideas to make a person’s stay, however brief (such as a cup of coffee in a cafe), more pleasant and comfortable? And when will we learn not to charge tea/coffee by the cup! People should be able to get fill ups for free!

* (This idea is very long and detailed and has had to be edited for space reasons).

Transport

An all Ireland rail system would generate millions of euro to the Irish economy through tourism and it would encourage the decentralisation of business in Dublin and Belfast.

If we could redevelop and expand the rail system introduced by the British years ago it would drive business and tourism into rural areas that are suffering terribly.

To date most tourists rarely see past Dublin or Belfast but beautiful areas such as Kerry, Donegal, Cork , Mayo etc are overlooked due to the poor infrastructure and long travel time required to get to these regions.

Ireland is a tiny nation with so much to offer outside of the capitals, a new rail system would drive business throughout the country and open up access points to the country outside of the two major cities.

Agriculture and food

Encourage people to grow their own food by encouraging farmers to lease allotments to people living in urban areas. This would reduce the amount of food having to be imported.

Education

I think a campaign should be started to encourage businesses to invest in colleges and universities. This could be done by means of sponsorship. If, after first year in college, businesses could be invited, or show an interest in viewing student transcripts or CVs from students.

Businesses could then offer to sponsor selected students until they finish college, while working for the company part-time, over the summer, or on work placement during their course and set down in contract that the student must work for the company for a certain amount of years after graduation.

This would benefit the students, and benefit the companies as after 3/4 years, they would have an employee ready for work, fully trained and with the relevant experience within the company. It could be agreed with the university through a contract that the company will pay a certain proportion more for the privilege of selecting these students. This might then alleviate some of the huge costs that universities face every year, or towards lowering the costs of fees.

This would then go a long way to creating an even more knowledge based economy. The quality of degrees would increase and we would have a highly skilled workforce available. With our low tax rates, multinationals would arrive here knowing that they will be guaranteed highly qualified and skilled employees.

The colleges would gain from the sponsorship, the students would gain from the sponsorship, the company would gain from the sponsorship. It would also help those students who might otherwise not be able to afford the high costs of attending college.

Green business

Every town in Ireland with a population of over 8,000 should have a local biogas supply initiative in place. Organic waste collected from restaurants, hotels, fast food and domestic households can be used to feed the biogas units, even farmers can grow plantations to feed it. Biogas is produced and the gas can be tanked and resold to local restaurants, hotels, nursing homes to fuel its heating or cooking units.

Jobs would be created in the construction, maintenance and running of the facility. Marketing and administration jobs would be created along with a nationwide spare parts support centre. Fabrication work and many technical high end support jobs would be created through this. It would be a lot better than sucking it out of the ground from some part of Russia!

Ireland can then be a leading example for other countries and can export manufactured units. It would also reduce our reliance on imported fuel and increase our own sense of energy security.

Green business

My idea is that all energy providers be obliged to provide a smart meter installed in the house or business premises so that the user would be able to monitor and reduce their usage of energy. I have dealings with hundreds of factories using machines, some of which are left running all day, even when not being used. The smart meter would very quickly emphasise the wastage of energy. The cost of supplying and installing the meters would be added to the customer’s bill and paid over a period of say 2 years.

Green business

Energy Efficiency: Driving around Ireland at night, you will see 100’s of opportunities for energy saving in premises who leave excessive lights on at night.

An example of Fingal County Council offices in Swords which are often alight late into the evening with nobody occupying (bar security personnel). Why not establish a website where people can submit observations on this energy wastage. Run by Dept of Energy, all it would need is: - Location - Date/Time - Observation etc.

It is a little “big brother” ish but I’m sure many business owners would be happy to receive the feedback on car park lights/display lights/office lights being left on incorrectly.

Website management could then forward the feedback onto relevant parties. Website named along the lines of: www.lightsout.ie or similar.

Green business

Based on a recently touted idea, but developed somewhat, I suggest an Alternative Fuel on Hire Purchase Scheme.

Yep - that’s right, an AFoHPS! Alternative energy sources, be it solar panels, mini-wind turbines, wood pellets etc., will reduce energy costs as soon as installed, so a monthly ESB bill might now be 60 euro instead of 100. [This money saved (40 euro) could be given to an investor on a monthly basis, who will have paid the initial cost of installation - not simply a grant, but the full cost].

Only an investor able to await this delayed payment, (possibly up to twenty years) which naturally includes a reasonable premium could underwrite such a proposal of course - if it has to be the State, so be it.

The household is paying money they would have been paying anyway, jobs are created and all that implies, reduced dependency on oil etc and the investor realises a profit.

Innovation

Reduce the cost and complexity of patenting - or actively support and subsidise it, thus encouraging established and budding inventors/entrepreneurs ultimately developing the creative economy.

Furthermore if patenting in Ireland was a more supported endeavour than elsewhere, many new products, improvements and technologies would at least start here, some of which may move on to being developed and even produced here also.

Manufacturing

There are skills and factories vacant and machinery lying idle which can be used with small adaptation: re-open Mallow beet factory and Carlow sugar factories, encourage farmers to grow beet once again, use these factories to produce bio fuel (beet, high sugar/starch content) for use in industry and cars.

Skills in textile factories: farmers grow flax, bamboo for production of textiles, adapt for use as insulation, and use same factories for production of sheep wool insulation.

Chipboard factories: adapt machinery to use raw materials to make wood pellets, as most of the pellets used here are imported, cut down on air miles and bring product closer to consumers, encouraging use of wood pellet burners.

State on all such products, whether from home or abroad the travel miles required to bring to place of sale, and apply a legitimate “fuel surcharge” on imported product, thereby encouraging home advantage.

Manufacturing

I am currently 15 years old and I think it would really be cool to manufacture wireless headphones. You could put your mp3 or ipod in your pocket and the ear pieces go in your ears but there is no wires connected to them.

The ear pieces could work along the lines of a wii remote the ear pieces will probably need to use batteries like the little round ones that go in calculators.

You could make cool designs for them to make teenagers buy them, they would probably have to come with a specially made mp3 with a built sensor bar and they could all come in a cute box that you can carry wherever you go.

Policy

I work as a GP in Dublin. From my training days in the UK in the early nineties, I was encouraged to prescribe medicines generically and not by trade name. I understand there is legal onus there on pharmacists to dispense the cheapest version of a drug, when prescribed by its generic name rather than by its trade name e.g. amoxicillin instead of amoxil.

The drug company mark up on drugs prescribed by trade name can be up to double the price of the cheapest alternative. At no stage, since my return to practice here in the past 15yrs, have I had direction in this regard from the HSE or seen any hint of similar legislation being considered.

This is something that would take little to resolve yet save hundreds of millions potentially each year. There should be collaboration between the HSE and the Irish College of General Practitioners to encourage this.

Small point - big saving.

Policy

The government raised children’s allowance in this country because childcare crèche prices were so high. In my opinion I think they should bring back down the children’s allowance and make crèches reduce their prices.

Policy

I would suggest that if a tax incentive, or tax free allowance were granted to anyone who creates a new job for someone on the live register, they get a tax free allowance for it, or tax credit.

For example, if an employer takes on someone off the live register, and pays them, say €30,000 per annum, they would get a tax credit of say, €3,000, so if they employ two people they would get a tax credit of say, €6,000, and so on.

This would mean that every person employed off the live register will save the state their cost to the exchequer, they are then tax paying citizens, and it is a double positive for the economy. It would also mean that employers who are employing people on the black economy, to regularise those jobs, creating more tax revenue for the state.

It could also be used to encourage those very high earners, who pay little tax in the state, to keep their money in the country, and create employment.

Policy

I work for a government body and I can honestly say that there is a great deal of waste in virtually all government departments. The culprit, I think, is the fear that if a budget is not spent, then the budget of that department will be reduced for the following year and the unspent money will be “lost” to the department.
My idea is simply to allow a department that under spends to roll-over a percentage of the unspent money to the following year with a small reduction for the following year.

For example, if Department A has a budget of 100,000 and they under spend by 10,000, then Department A should have its budget left unchanged and have 80% of the money rolled over into the following year’s budget. So, in the example, Department A would have 8,000 rolled to the next year and 2,000 returned to the “general” account for the agency.

This excess could be used to reduce debt (government agencies are often in debt as they operate in arrears as they await grant funding, etc.) for the agency or returned to the exchequer. As most budgets have been cut pretty harshly, this might be a way to get a “free” cut in spending.

Also, it allows each department to decide where they can cut rather than to have swingeing cuts made randomly at Ministerial level. Virtually every agency has fat–but it can be difficult to cut this at a national level. It’s easier to let Ministers set priorities and let the people on the ground find the savings in everyday items.

If such a policy was enacted, there would be annual surpluses in a number of agencies which could act as a cushion going forward. If an agency saved 100,000 in 2009, 90,000 in 2010 and 50,000 in 2011…it might be several years before the agency’s budget would need to be increased to account for future inflation.

Retail

I believe my idea would help shoppers, small producers and provide a low cost business opportunity for entrepreneurs. I call my idea ‘Order and Collect’.

If you could go to a location which had an ‘Order and Collect’ outlet. This could be in a community centre, a post office or even a neighbour’s house. You could order your shopping from an online catalogue have it delivered to that location and collect it and pay for it later.

Customers would benefit from an ‘Order and Collect’ outlet because they would have a choice of thousands of products at one location, they would not have to wait at home for delivery, they would save on delivery charges and they would not have any security worries about online payments.

Small producers would benefit, because they could service hundreds of customers at one location saving on delivery costs to individual addresses. They could get payment on delivery. ‘Order and Collect’ would provide a low cost business opportunity for entrepreneurs.

It could be located in a local shop or even in someone’s home. I believe ‘Order and Collect’ would have the advantages of internet shopping while allowing the customer to deal with a person. Many people shop on the internet and it is one area of retail that is growing. Many people have home based businesses using eBay or Amazon.

Social and voluntary

I am supportive of single mothers being supported in the early stages of their child’s life, but to have the single mother income continue until the child is 18/22 is ridiculous from many aspects. It kills entrepreneurship and implants in the child a lack of ambition.

We should help these mothers in the early days to get back on their feet, to get back into education and to get back into the workplace. This would save the economy many, many millions per annum and that money could be used to reinvest in children’s education and in adult education.

Apparently a single mothers ‘package’ is equivalent to 44k per annum when you add up all of the benefits. This is workable for the first few years - maybe until the child goes to primary school, but then it should end and that mother should be helped in every way to return to work/education.

This is key for influencing the next generation - so that they can break out of the welfare cycle. This benefit in its current format kills any incentive to work and provide. Other countries do this - they help the mother in the early years and then they get them going again.

Sport

Two of the big problems facing this country are: unemployment and obesity in children. We have 1000s of active sportsmen/women (some up to the standard of inter county GAA and LOI) unemployed. Why not have a schools programme run where these individuals would be allotted to schools (3 to 4 per school) and they would receive a top up on dole payment for periods of 15-20 hours a week training school teams.

There would be no requirement for an additional layer of management of such a scheme as school principle could monitor and sign off on the hours while teachers would be freed up to focus on core educational activities.

I’m sure that you could involve GAA, rugby and soccer bodies to part finance scheme as well. The gains would be more kids in sport and less active young men/women who have long hours and nothing to fill their time with.

You could even look at expanding whereby the people involved in the scheme liaise with existing school teachers to expand their own skill set (foreign languages/sciences/IT etc) in scheduled classes. E.g. you have 5 sports trainers who 1 or 2 days a week, have French lessons with existing French teacher in the school.

Technology

My idea has the capability to become a wireless access point allowing local wireless networks to expand coverage to weak areas which need camera coverage as well as a powerful Internet access point. In fact, this wireless camera can be programmed to “daisy chain” for several stages which can add up to miles of coverage.

Every shop on the main street has two discreet cameras fitted outside their premises, one looking left, crossing the camera looking right in this way you will pick up movement in both directions. Built into this IP camera is a wireless router thus hopping the wireless signal up to 200m down the street to the next premises with the same set-up.

The advantage of this setup is that each business owner has full access to the cameras located on their own premises only through standard internet connection. From my research in this area the time spent by Gardai collecting tapes and files from individual business CCTV systems is very time consuming, Gardai could be given rights to access all cameras in the scheme and view footage through a browser without leaving the office.

There are obvious benefits for towns and cities in employing a wireless network. Public safety can be improved with wireless CCTV cameras which can quickly be deployed to crime hotspots. Wi-fi can also play a role in monitoring parking, traffic flow management for street wardens. “People will take it up; they just don’t want to be paying a fiver an hour”.

The cost of the deployment will be partly paid for by ads on the Wi-Fi hotspot landing page which should be free to the end user who wants to use the Wi-Fi hotspot. The mains power for powering the cameras would be paid by the business premises and in return they would get discounted fibre broadband to their business.

(This idea is very long and detailed and has had to be edited for space reasons)

Tourism

I am an Irish born Canadian senior citizen who returns to Ireland frequently. Unlike Irish seniors residents I have to pay on buses etc. I am not complaining.

But here is my plan: give every senior citizen visitor from every country free travel on buses and trains. How much can it cost? Buses and trains are half full most of the time anyway. You would be deluged with visitors.

It would be a case of spending a penny to make a pound. Cards could be issued at the point of entry by immigration officers or at some other point.

Many visitors spend relatively little on transportation and the forgone fares could be recouped ten times over by the other industries associated with tourism.

Agriculture and food

It should be noted that nutrition was optimal in the UK during the 2nd world war with rationing. With the present epidemic of maturity onset diabetes and obesity, I suggest putting VAT on processed and packaged foods, and high energy and carbonated drinks, leaving only vegetables, fruits and non-processed meat and fish free from VAT.

Agriculture and food

Develop a national “Ireland” food brand. This national brand could be licensed by private food companies for selling into foreign markets. This brand would enable all quality products, sourced and manufactured in the Irish food sector, to be sold in an effective and efficient manner.

The brand would be managed by a private company, which would have expertise in the area, under contract from An Bord Bia. We see brands such as Waterford Crystal being lost to international buyers. The value of Irish brands must be protected and leveraged to our own advantage.

Agriculture and food

We should not be importing so much of our vegetables and fruit. Importing especially from long distances not only leaves a carbon footprint but is also a drain on the economy. Farmers and horticulturists should be actively encouraged.

Why are we importing carrots from Holland, broccoli from Spain, garlic from China to name but a few when we could be growing all these ourselves? One of the major costs in the production of vegetables and fruit is that of labour.

Workers on jobseekers allowance and school leavers could be encouraged into this area and wages subsidised. This would also help people to expand their skill base while encouraging us to return to our agricultural roots.

Construction

As has been shown, the dependence on a ‘Services’ based economy is not working, as there is no indigenous manufacturing or product sales (outside of agriculture) to underpin it. We must start making things that people will buy overseas - real things - and not just bits of paper that we pass around which are essentially valueless (insurance/debt/house prices etc).

What I propose is a massive, national investment in a product which we have aplenty, and is increasing; is free in its raw state and is now worth more globally per litre than oil - FRESH WATER!

Like Lemass did in the 50’s, we need to invest large sums into ‘damming’ some of our (otherwise non-productive) upland areas - hills with glaciated/v-shaped valleys, which are common in places like West Cork & Kerry. We then use Hydro-Electric power (existing technology) to make electricity which powers the pumps required to fill tanker ships and filter the water.

Using ideal natural assets such as Bantry Bay, (the 2nd deepest natural harbour in the World), we can fill up huge amounts of water & ship them direct to Europe & Southern Europe (even the UK need is in the South!).

As Global Warming continues, Europe will on the whole be drying up, while we in Ireland are forecast for more rain! The price of this valuable commodity is only going one way - up, and we are ideally placed to take advantage of it. We may not even have to treat it to very high standards here - why can’t we filter it; send it off to Europe and treat it on arrival?

It would be a lot cheaper! The Capital Expenditure would initially be high, but it would give a massive labour boost to all the construction workers who are currently unemployed, and would pay ever increasing financial dividends in years to come. Leading the way in water technologies, using our Universities for R&D, could provide valuable spin-offs; provide high end jobs and still produce ‘real’ products instead of services.

* (This idea is very long and detailed and has had to be edited for space reasons).

Construction

Review the entire process for the granting of planning permission. We have cash rich viable private individuals with proven track records in construction and development and they are being strangled by bureaucracy and the small mindedness of our planning department.

If they are willing to take a risk in the current climate and provide employment, then they should be not only be allowed but encouraged. Guidelines should apply but not the stranglehold that is currently choking our economy.

Construction

Rent to buy in the second hand house sector - to get the property sector moving again.
(1) The potential buyer and seller agree on a price that will be fixed over a lease period of 2 or 3 years.
(2) The buyer leases the property at an agreed monthly rent.
(3) At the end of the lease period the buyer has the option to purchase the house at the agreed price and if he does, 75% of the rent paid over the period goes towards the deposit.

This way the seller gets liquidity during the recession while the buyer gets to try the location, build up a deposit and potentially buy the house at below market value (if the market recovers in the 2/3 year period).

Otherwise, the buyer can release the option at the end of the period. Particularly suitable for buyers who want to trade up and have a fall back property, but requires government regulation.

Education

At the moment, there seems to be a lot of unease that the money being poured into science and technology is not necessarily translating into more jobs in this sector. Part of this problem is due to the fact that professors and researchers in third level education are, through no fault of their own, usually focused more on pure research as opposed to industrial R&D. Thus, the students who do PhD’s under them tend to be less industry-oriented than the government would like them to be.

One solution to this would be to introduce a system similar to that in the UK whereby a so-called Engineering Doctorate can be attained. This means that the student does some masters-level courses in a university for the first few months and then goes on to do research in a company that sponsors them, instead of doing it in a research institute.

It’s a win-win situation. The student does relevant research and obtains a respected qualification at the end of it, earning an EngD instead of a PhD. The company gets a motivated, young person to solve (a) particular problem(s) for them and also gets to link up with a university.

Also just as importantly, the government gets well-trained, talented individuals who will have excellent knowledge of the private sector and will be likely to continue in the direction of creating new business opportunities. The EngD and PhD programmes could coexist, the former for more industrial-oriented students and the latter towards more academically-oriented students.

* (This idea is very long and detailed and has had to be edited for space reasons).

Green business

Recycling laptops for low cost economies like Africa and Asia. Businesses generally write off laptops after a 2 year period. These old laptops are generally in working order and need very little maintenance if we could recycle these, giving commitment to companies of safety of scrubbing all information. Then loading free operating systems like Linux and bundling freeware tool thus remanufacturing them for resale to growing or emerging economies at low cost.

Green business

Renewable energy is literally racing past everyone on a global scale. By this I mean that electric energy could become a by-product of the latent energy of motorway traffic. Motorways are energy channels - they are like rivers. I visualise a technology to harness this passing energy as similar to that of windmill technology.

The mechanics of developing such a technology would be left up to the likes of the ESB or others. Energy harnessed would be delivered into the national grid. As motorists spit out their carbon omissions, the flip side of this negative action would be that road users would also be reclaiming a portion of the global carbon footprint.

Let’s face it, motorways exist - they are not going away any time soon, despite what some environmentalists might wish for.

Let’s be proactive and explore the negative aspects of mooring (i.e. carbon omissions) and turn this into a positive action. If we explore this idea, Ireland could be at the forefront of a global green initiative, and Ireland Inc could benefit financially from worldwide applications to an Irish led green innovation.

Green business

Reduce the heat in public buildings, courts, government offices etc. Most of these buildings are heated to such a degree that the staff are wearing summer clothes in winter and members of the public coming in with coats on are sweating.

Policy

Lower the vat rate on goods to say 15% for a set period of time notifying the taxpayers in advance e.g. announce in April budget that VAT on goods will be reduced from June 2009 until April 2010 to 15%. The idea would be a bold statement/signal by government and should:

• Stimulate consumer demand thus increase tax taken from VAT
• Stimulate business to persevere through current difficulties i.e. light at the end of the tunnel
• Preserve jobs particularly retail/motor/construction
• Attract UK and foreign consumers (we have seen the reverse recently with consumers travelling north)

Policy

This site or ones similar to it should be run permanently, as a forum for ideas is always needed, not just in harder times.

Policy

Employment Subsidy of €300 per month. I am an employer in the retail/leisure industry, over the past 6 months business has been getting gradually quieter and profits have fallen, we have kept staff numbers the same and kept pay levels the same also, but we asked staff to consider short time and some have staff have volunteered to do 4 day weeks.

It has now come to the point that I will have to let go 2 members of staff. Their take home pay averages €400 per week. If they claim jobseekers benefit, one of them is entitled to approx. €200 per week plus rent allowance of approx. €100 per week (€1300 per month), the other staff member is entitled to approx. €340 per week (married with child) plus rent allowance of approx. €150 per week (€2100 per month).

For these 2 employees the state will have to pay €3400 per month. Add in the lost PRSI, Income Levy, Income Tax and the net loss to the state is €3800.

If the govt. paid me an employment subsidy of €300 per employee it would probably save me from letting them go and would keep the other jobs safe as well.

Bear in mind that my company contributes €15,000 per month in VAT, PRSI, Income Tax and Corporation Tax. Also remember their additional hidden costs of employment, loss of morale, loss of confidence, stress and worry, loss of productivity and you can see that the employment subsidy is a cheap investment for the govt.

Policy

Ireland should introduce a plastic bottle tax. A small levy maybe 5c per bottle would be applied to each plastic bottle sold. Like the plastic bag environmental levy, this would have environmental benefits while also collecting tax revenue. If the levy included bottles of sugary soft drinks, it might also have long-term health benefits.

Services (local)

To create a website to encourage feedback from customers (all of Ireland) of services and businesses they have dealt with. We already have one that people can write comments about solicitors, why not all services including shops etc.

Any company mentioned should be encouraged to provide a web link to their site and / or comment on the remarks made about them, this is already something eBay encourage. Vacant remarks can say it all!

Technology

Met Eireann to provide a text/alert web service similar to blight warnings where users can enter GPS co-ordinates and rules specifying alert conditions on a webpage. The conditions might be wind direction, wind speed, humidity, absolute change in degrees, etc.

Many heating systems are designed for continental Europe or USA with long periods of similar weather. The maritime nature of Irish weather means that the feedback systems are not as efficient as they might be. If a cold snap or heat wave is imminent, then a notification by text message can advise the recipient to manually adjust the heating/cooling system.

This would be useful in hospitals and schools to save energy. If students / patients / employees could log in to the web page and provide feedback for a particular location and time, the rules could be fine-tuned to match the perception of how the environment feels.

Transport

Cancel the Metro for Dublin. The people of this country do not believe it’s worth the cost. We are much better off not spending this money at the moment. We need to get our finances balanced before we consider such plans. It’s like applying for a mortgage without knowing what your income will be next year, never mind in 5 years.