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.
RSS Feed