Sir, – Darragh Kilbride’s (Opinion, December 2nd) statement that no country has ever taxed its way out of a recession is clearly contradicted by Dan O’Brien’s analysis (Business This Week, December 2nd). He shows that from 1990 Ireland’s tax take as a percentage of GDP was rising. It did not fall until 1995 at which point the recession was well and truly over. I believe Finland recovered from its recession in the early 1990s while maintaining relatively high levels of taxation.
His chart also shows that at present Ireland remains a relatively lowly taxed economy and as long as that remains the case State expenditure on public services will have to be reduced. However, in this context it would be wrong to believe that a wealth tax, as proposed by Dr Rory Ahearne and Siobhan O’Donoghue (Opinion, December 2nd) is the answer. Such a tax may be desirable from an equity perspective, but wealth taxes are notoriously inefficient as a way of raising large amounts of revenue. – Yours, etc,
A chara, – With all the talk about further cuts to child benefit, maybe it’s time the Government considered paying different rates based on the age of the child.
For example, a young child usually means the inescapable choice of one parent forsaking an income or opting for very expensive child care. This disjunction is not as inescapable when a child becomes a teenager. – Is mise,
Sir, – Perhaps the 1.67 million people who hold the medical card should visit their local pharmacy and purchase some discounted Valium in advance of the forthcoming budget. – Yours, etc,