The latest sample of ideas received since campaign launch
Agriculture and food
Wool is an underdeveloped resource in this country. That sheep have fleeces seems not have been noticed since quite some time by the Department of Agriculture.
Provide incentives to breed for improved fleece quality, and for processing activities, and have a project for research, designers and possibly engineering to cooperate and come up with possible products for Ireland’s fleeces.
Agriculture and food
Ireland gave away its fishing industry as a condition of entry to the EU. It is an industry in severe decline presently.
We should demand it back in return for a “yes” vote on Lisbon and develop our fishing industry as we have the largest area of continental shelf fishing grounds.
Europeans eat more fish than we do so we can export most of the catch.
All island economy
There should be one day a week designated to ‘buying Irish and local’. This could be a Thursday, following the idea of casual Friday. On this day, people would get into the habit of asking in the restaurant for Irish/local products, in the shops etc.
Construction
Ireland has a lot of rural housing much of which has not been constructed in compliance with planning permission, e.g. the type of building materials etc. This has the effect of destroying the visual beauty of the countryside.
My idea is that local authorities should require that bonds be submitted, (e.g. 10% of the projected building sum) as one of the conditions of the grant of permission.
This bond would only be returned once an inspector has seen that the dwelling has been constructed in compliance with the grant of permission. If not, the bond money is there to rectify unauthorised works.
Construction
All derelict unused buildings in the country should be taken over by government. Buildings should be then upgraded or demolished.
There are numerous old houses in Ireland that could be upgraded rather than new houses being built. The buildings should be sold to small construction companies who do not have much work in hand because of the recession, at a minimal rate.
These construction companies should then be directed by planners of the local authority as to the type of reconstruction or new buildings required.
Construction workers who now find themselves on the live register could be paid a low wage along with social welfare to work on the projects and finally construction companies could then sell back the building at a cost to the government which gives the company a reasonable profit margin.
All new buildings would have to be green businesses.
Culture
Cultural policy is very important in terms of the development of inner-city areas across Ireland.
The creation of cultural clusters which broadly includes the cultural activities in an area (art organisations, colleges, publishers, printers, craft, art galleries/retailers etc) but also small/local business, community sector and residents.
There is a need to carry out a cultural audit in such inner-city areas, to identify key strengths.
Education
A large ambitious campaign to upskill the Irish population is needed. Every person on the island should be encouraged into education.
A culture where evening and weekend courses become the norm for everyone no matter what age is required. This would enable us to become the knowledge economy we so need.
It would also mean the Irish workforce would be extremely flexible, a necessity in a globalised world. We cannot compete in low skilled jobs. We must invest heavily in a skilled workforce.
Education
On a recent visit to a third-level college I noticed that all the computers and projectors in the class rooms were on standby. This is a big waste of power and surely could be rectified easily, saving lots of electricity and therefore money to the cash strapped colleges!
Education
Keep people in education. I teach in prisons and have noticed that:
- Most of the inmates left school when they were 12-16
- Most of the inmates come from the same areas - ghettos
- Most inmates have very little self esteem
- Many are very creative and quick-witted
It costs €80,000 to keep a person in prison for a year. This amount could pay for two extra teachers to teach for a year in these ghettos, therefore making smaller class sizes that:
- Will make it harder for certain kids to “slip through the net” and leave school early
- Give more opportunity to find the strengths and different interests of individual children
- Give employment to two teachers, and potentially many future school-leavers
Each would-be criminal saved from prison would save the country €80,000 annually in prison costs. These individuals would be more likely to find themselves in employment and paying tax into the economy.
(This idea is very long and detailed and has had to be edited for space reasons)
Green business
Every street light in the country consumes approx 0.2kw hours of electricity. From 8pm to 8am that is 1.2kw hours of electricity or enough to leave the kettle on for an hour.
Averaging over the year there is around 12 hours of dark each day. While required for safety from dusk till about 2am and from 6am till sunrise the vast majority of street lights could be switched off in the intervening four-hour period saving 1/3 of the electricity that is being paid for mainly by local authorities, this is at an un-metered tariff which is a premium price.
A simple timer relay retrofitted to each lamp post in series with the light detection relay at a hardware cost of approx €2.00 per lamp post would accommodate this.
A more expensive relay that uses radio synchronisation would prevent daylight savings anomalies.
The ESB would be able to confirm how many street lights are in service as they manage the billing to the council.
A spin-off benefit would be in the area of security and those up to no good at night would have to go prepared with torches so there would be less opportunistic crime during this lights out period.
Green business
About 40 nuclear power stations are on order around the world at present. These will need uranium fuel and many countries have exploration programmes in progress. Nuclear power is greenhouse gas-free and safe.
Ireland has some modest deposits of uranium located in the 1970s with EU-funded exploration. The Green Party have banned uranium exploration on ideological grounds.
Even if we never build our own nuclear stations we could at least develop these deposits and sell our uranium to the growing market for it.
Sweden has 10 nuclear power stations and their green party has accepted nuclear power recently as a necessity. Finland, another Nordic environmental model, is presently building one. France has 80% of its electricity produced by nuclear power and they will meet their Kyoto targets, unlike us.
Innovation
I propose that telephone kiosks can be utilised by local business for the benefit of the community.
- The 2,151 telephone kiosks which Eircom are proposing to remove and scrap should be acquired by the government on behalf of the people.
- They should be fitted with a ‘hot-button’ system, including a ‘999′ button and cctv.
- They should then be offered to local businesses on lease such as taxi companies, fast food outlets, local councils, garages, or any organisation that would benefit from a 24/7 contact point.
- The external and internal surfaces of the kiosk would be suitable for local advertising, providing a source of revenue for the lease holder.
- The maintenance, cleaning etc of the kiosk would be the responsibilty of the leaseholder.
- I feel that such a service would be worth €5,000 per annum to the leaseholder therefore providing a source of revenue for the exchequer to the value of €10,755,000.
Manufacturing
Ireland has the largest zinc mine in Europe at Navan. We also have two other smaller mines at Lisheen (Co Tipperary) and Galmoy (Co Kilkenny).
These are going to close down within seven years as the ore is mined out with the loss of 1000 direct jobs and perhaps thousands more indirectly.
Zinc is needed in lightweight alloys and for galvanising to protect steel from corrosion.
We should encourage the Government to incentivise mineral exploration (as was done in the 1960s) so that new deposits can be found and developed so that we can remain the main supplier of zinc in Europe as well as preserving and creating jobs in mining.
Not as glamorous as financial services, but it is real and feasible.
Policy
Deploy Gardaí on bicycles in urban areas, particularly during rush hour, and fine people for using mobile phones, breaking traffic lights, etc.
This would provide increased revenue for the government, which would be a financial benefit, but would also provide a social benefit by stamping out people’s behaviour on the roads, because currently they know they won’t get caught driving dangerously.
I pass so many motorists on the way home on my bike, texting while driving in traffic.
Policy
We badly need to introduce a national postcode system to reduce incidences of fraud for eCommerce companies.
We have one of the highest rates of internet fraud in Europe as retailers’ systems cannot identify which shoppers have previously received goods but not paid for them.
This is counterproductive to the achievements of the broadband rollout schemes and grant aid assistance already provided to online companies.
Legislative protection and a postcode system similar to that in the UK would encourage more international companies like Amazon to enter the country but until this is done we are missing out on their investment.
Policy
We need a wills register. So many wills are never discovered or people make them decades earlier or move to a different area.
Next of kin are left going from solicitor to solicitor in the local area asking if the deceased made a will with them.
The state needs to solve this problem and raise some revenue by charging a fee for registering a will has been made by an individual.
Retail
A central, commercial property database of market rents being paid by tenants of commercial property should be established.
This would enable retailers to work more effectively in an imperfect market, leasing space based on perfect knowledge of rents being paid, allowing for an even playing field.
The valuations office collects data on each commercial unit that pays rents in the country. Incentives such as rent free periods and capital contribution would have to be examined.
Retail
There is a lack of real competition in the grocery sector in this country. Supermarket pricing needs to be more transparent.
The government should establish a website similar to mysupermarket.co.uk where retailers upload their daily price file from their computer systems.
Retail
The retail sector is under particular pressure at the moment, from retail rents that are way above average. Years ago, there was a cap on private household rents; a similar scheme should now be put in place for retail rents. If these businesses go out of business, they will not start up again.
Services (international)
The Dublin docklands should target the international music industry and related services with tax breaks and grant aid to attract them to set up in Dublin.
Financial services and fund administrative are seriously on the decline and we need to line up another industry to fill this space. Music and entertainment fit perfectly with the image Dublin already has and we should build on this.
Services (local)
I would think that the number of people getting married abroad has risen year on year as it is perceived to be cheaper than getting married in Ireland. This is money that we could really use in our economy.
As such I would suggest a €500 tax rebate (this is pie in the sky but sounds attractive enough to work) based on receipts related to a wedding with a copy of a valid marriage certificate, they could claim VAT back.
My wedding is coming in at about 18k, so even at 13.5% this would be €2,430 in tax revenue. Plus the actual injection of over 15k in the economy per couple would be a nice earner.
Services (local)
A recent survey has shown that we have the highest line rental in Europe, hugely above the European average. Comreg should determine a realistic price for line rental by reference to the price in other European countries with similar salary levels and population densities.
Tourism
It is essential to keep as much money in circulation within Ireland. One of the best ways of doing this is to ensure people continue to eat and drink and socialise in our pubs and restaurants rather than staying at home.
For this to happen we need to reduce the differential between drinking and eating at home and eating and drinking in a social environment.
Over the past number of years more and more people are choosing to stay at home to socialise. Not only does this reduce social contact but damages our friendly sociable image that tourists love.
This can be reversed by reducing excise on alcohol that is sold in licensed premises while increasing excise on alcohol sold in an off licence. By doing this we can bring the cost of the alcohol sold in licensed premises close to the cost of purchase in an off licence.
The benefit to communities is also immense. Social drinking is less likely to lead to damaging alcohol abuse, while helping cement peoples place in the community. Reduced price of alcohol sold in licensed premises benefits tourists and helps make our tourist product more competitive.
This proposal can be fully revenue neutral as all reductions on premises sales can be recovered from off license sales. However the benefits to tourism are likely to lead to a positive effect on revenue.
* (This idea is very long and detailed and has had to be edited for space reasons).
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