Sometimes a proposal comes along that is so sensible and so modest that you wonder why it doesn’t feature high up the public agenda.  Take the proposal made recently by…

The Low Pay Commission will soon be recommending an increase in the minimum wage.  How much should it recommend?  Let’s start with the conclusion:  the minimum wage should rise by…

If anyone is uncertain about the power relationship between employees and employers, I suggest they look to the Dunnes Stores dispute and the closure of Clerys.  These encapsulate the massive…

What would you say about a system for your car that was sold on the basis that it would alert you to an upcoming crash?  A good idea, no?  Except…

With the public sector pay negotiations getting underway, it is timely to step back from the details and look at the broader landscape.  For it is clear:  if the wage…

‘We all know there will be people who will never work. They're allergic to work.  So we're not including those in the statistics. But everybody who wants a job will…

Government Ministers are fond of saying that they want to repay those who made the biggest sacrifices; hence: tax cuts.  They have also stated that they want to target the…

The is the speech I delivered at the May Day Conference organised by the five trade unions affiliated to Right2Water When the Left wins the next election and forms the…

What was the point?  Two documents with over 100 pages between them.  Hours spent in the Dail.  Many more hours of commentary in the media.  And the whole thing boiled…

Fianna Fail has announced that it will bring in a new childcare tax credit f it gets elected.  On that basis alone we can only hope they don’t get elected.…

The decision by the National Transport Authority (NTA) to franchise out 10 percent of Dublin Bus and Bus Eireann routes for private tendering, which could cause industrial disruption, signals the…

The Right has one big idea:  cut taxes.  They have another big idea:  cut more taxes.  And their biggest idea of all:  cut as many taxes as possible:  income tax,…

When everything came crashing down there was considerable discussion of the ‘bonus culture’; primarily but not exclusively in the finance sector.  Bonuses were tied to outputs that, while rewarding the…

This Thursday, April 2nd, workers in Dunnes Stores throughout the country are coming out on a one-day strike.  In essence, the dispute boils down to two urgent issues.  The first…

This is a guest post by Michael Burke.  Michael works as an economic consultant. He was previously senior international economist with Citibank in London. He blogs regularly at Socialist Economic…

When we look at the headline numbers, it appears that Ireland is a low-spend economy – that is, Government spending is well below EU averages.  This helps explain why we…

It is difficult to make sense of the EU governments’ attitude towards Greece – not if we’re using rational measurements.  There was a deal on the table – as reported…

It is often stated that everyone has made sacrifices during this crisis.  Whatever about ‘everyone’, there are certain groups that clearly have ‘made sacrifices’; or, rather, have been sacrificed. And…

How do EU countries manage to provide better public services and income supports than us?  And are the Irish willing to pay for European-style public services (the implication being we…

With the Dail to debate a private members motion from Catherine Murphy, TD calling for support for a European Debt Conference, it is worth looking over Ireland’s debt numbers; especially…