Irish government predicts budget surplus of more than €8bn

by kearkan

47 comments
  1. Time to bring forward some badly needed infrastructure projects?

    *He said in despair*

  2. Don’t they do this last time and then it turns out to be less then half of that

  3. How much would it cost to link Mullingar to Athlone train stations? Out of interest.

  4. Roughly one-in-seven Euro collected in tax came from the same 10 (generally American) companies. This is strikingly fragile. The state plans to invest the budget surplus to act as a future cushion for if (or more likely when) these companies up and move, even if that means neglecting other issues in the short term

  5. give me those increased tax band and electricity credits

  6. Shocking that this windfall is under the control of the political class.

  7. In other news the cost of the children’s hospital is up another €8 billion

  8. Luckily we have nothing whatsoever to spend it on, having long ago rebuilt our ruined health service and built enough housing for everyone.

    Best to keep it for a rainy day so it looks like FFG are great at making money.

  9. Maybe ease up on USC?!

    Think it was only supposed to be around 10 years…been longer than that.

    The money will only go back into the economy anyway.

  10. The hospitals, schools, roads, prisons etc etc wont see a penny of it. But sure at least we might get more re-turn bins out of it

  11. 4 billion for investment to revamp/rebuild every A&E department in the country.

    4 billion into a state funded housing project. Social housing to rent back to middle earners at affordable rates allowing them to save/build wealth and not piss away 40% of their income to foreign investment funds. The neat thing about this is they’ll actually recoup the money over time.

    Neither will be considered

  12. It’s not a budget surplus, it’s confirmation you’ve been over taxing the population at every conceivable turn

  13. That’s enough to buy an Iowa-class battleship of the US and reactivate it.

    16 Inches of Satanic pleasure.

    Those fishing boats won’t know what hit them.

  14. Housing. Child care. Food for children in schools. Hospitals. Fix some infrastructure.

    There, I gave you a freebie. Use this list and fucking take this country forward.

  15. Fucking nuke the USC for fucks sake, its ridiculous at this stage. Also stick the tv licence up your hole.

  16. We need to spend it now or our parents will think we need €8bn less to run our lemonade stand and won’t give us as much next time.

  17. How many modern state owned flats could be built for that amount?

  18. Can’t wait for lower taxes in the next budget so…….

  19. This is why no one has money. You’d be better off not taxing anyone and letting them build their own house.

  20. Funny how there’s always a surplus when they need to buy some votes next election.

    Giveaway bonanza incoming but only for the middle class and they’re buddies

  21. Crack open the champagne and let the good times continue.

  22. For a reference,  the government made €4 billion more than expected in 2006. 8 billion before expecting surprises is pretty good

  23. I’d say we buy fighter jets to fly over the aviva like how they do in america.

  24. If they stash away €100bn in the next decade, that could easily be €5bn a year extra to spend forever, which is a lot. I reckon go for it (I am a young person struggling to buy and our problems everywhere are process, not financing).

  25. €8bn? That’s about half a children’s hospital…

  26. Does this mean we can get a rail connection from the Dublin city out to the airport like every other western country?

    Also can we get rid of the supposed “temporary” USC tax, like there’s no need for us to be paying it.

  27. Perhaps we could use it to improve our health care system? Or build more of those houses that are desperately needed…Nah,nevermind. Even I know that was a stupid thing to say. Carry on.

  28. Good use it to pay down the national debt, we are no longer in a 0% interest rate era and its not coming back, but the service cost of the old debt is costing more and more and will cripple the country if it gets too high.

  29. How in the name of fuck do we have 8b surplus and we have a chronic shortage of houses, water infrastructure that is literally falling apart, roads that aren’t being maintained and a health service that is far too small for the country. That is unforgivable mismanagement.

  30. Man, I can’t even imagine having surpluses here in the US. That’s awesome

  31. Here’s my to do list for the Irish government:
    – build (condensed) housing
    – get proper 21st century public transport running
    – ensure the money keeps flowing without being the tax haven of Europe

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