From top: Unemployment line in Thomas Street, Dublin; Michael Taft
Political parties are promising all sorts of tax cuts. What if parties contested with each over the best in-work benefit policies?
Michael Taft writes:
The election enters the last few days. So many issues that were barely mentioned. How much time was given over to the fact that over one million suffer multiple deprivation experiences?
How much debate was devoted to the 100,000 households in arrears and the many more in negative equity? Remember that bank debt that we absorbed? But no mention of a Financial Transaction Tax to start clawing back a little of that socialised private debt.
And there was absolutely no time devoted to benefits for people in work (apart from tax cuts which workers will end up subsidising through reduced public services and income supports).
There was no mention even after a report published last week from Glassdoor, an international recruitment, company. The Journal ran the headline: ‘Ireland is bottom of the EU pile for social benefits’ This accurately described the report. Still no debate.
Glassdoor compared a range of social benefits for people in work and Ireland did not fare well.
Take for instance what happens if you become sick at work. In Ireland you have to wait six working days before you can draw down the benefit and you get a flat rate of €188 from the Department of Social Protection.
That’s about 27 percent of your wage.
What do workers get in other countries?
In the Netherlands, employers are required to pay 70 percent of pay for up to two years
In Germany, employers are required to pay 100 percent of the wage for the first six weeks. After that, the state pays 70 percent of the salary for up to 78 weeks.
In Austria, workers receive up to 50 percent of wage for up to a year.
The main benefit other European workers get (apart from the UK and ourselves) is sick-pay that is income linked (though in most there is an income ceiling; these ceilings are above the average wage).This cushions the fall in living standards for those who fall ill and maintains consumer spending in the economy.
What about family benefits for those in work?
Ireland has a very high level of maternity leave at 42 weeks, considerably more than most other countries. However, only 26 of those weeks are paid at a maximum flat-rate of €230 per week.
This is 33 percent of the average wage. What about other countries?
In Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain new mothers get 100 percent of previous earnings for the whole period of leave.
Italy pays 80 percent of earnings while Belgium starts out at 82 percent, falling to 75 percent over time. Again, there are income ceilings above the average wage which, therefore, progressively benefits those on low-average pay.
In addition, many countries have paid paternity leave; not Ireland (though this has been promised in the general election campaign).
Another category where Ireland features at the bottom is unemployment benefit
It should be remembered that benefit is time limited in EU countries and is intended to bridge the gap between employment (what’s called frictional unemployment).
In Ireland, you get €188 per week (27 percent of average wage) for 26 to 39 weeks.
Other countries are much more generous:
Austria provides 55 percent of wage for up to 52 weeks.
In Germany you get 60 percent of wage for up to two years.
In Denmark, if you pay into an unemployment insurance fund (most do) you get 90 percent for up two years.
The rules in many of these countries can be quite complicated but Ireland has the weakest set of benefits for people between jobs, apart from the UK.
And what about holiday time?
Statutory holiday time (public holidays and paid annual leave) in Spain, Sweden, Austria, Finland and France is 35 to 35 days. In Ireland we get 29 days. We have to work a week more than workers in other countries.
We are towards the bottom of the table with the Netherlands and the UK on 28 days.
Political parties are promising all sorts of tax cuts. What kind of debate would we have if it focused on social security? What if parties contested with each over the best in-work benefit policies?
Wouldn’t we better off knowing that if we get sick our incomes wouldn’t collapse; that pregnancies will be supported by a generous support scheme; that transition between jobs doesn’t entail a collapse in income?
In Ireland, we assume that tax levels are the best indicator of living standards but this is incorrect. The best indicators are the benefits paid to workers when the face situations when they need the most help. A
And for all the billions being promised in tax cuts we could finance one of the best support programmes for workers in the EU.
And who wouldn’t mind a couple of extra holidays?
Michael Taft is Research Officer with Unite the Union. His column appears here every Tuesday. He is author of the political economy blog, Unite’s Notes on the Front. Follow Michael on Twitter: @notesonthefront
Workers benefits under a blueshirt government? What are you on?
Ideally we would have such protections, and I hope we do. Social welfare should be a safety net for us all, I and others in my family have had to use it before and were damn glad of it.
It would be interesting to see how such measures would be received, given some of the current commentary we are seeing from a lot on the left, including Broadsheet.
I fear that if we were to follow Germany for example, and get 60% of wages for two years, we would be faced with the inevitable outrage and shouting on Vincent Browne along the lines of
“How come a banker or businessman gets much more when they’re unemployed than someone who was on minimum wage. And what about long term unemployed, the most vulnerable in society”
Let’s be honest, this would be the first line trotted out because there is a very vocal section of the political sphere who demonise anyone who earns more than the average wage. And everything is a red line with these guys which stifles debate.
Tbf, first we have to get through the “but having children is a lifestyle choice, why should I support that” comments.
*facepalm*
If you can’t afford them, don’t have them.
Simples.
Brazilian waxes?
Do you really mean that?
Blueshirt governments?
If this is introduced, companies will just stop hiring women of child-bearing age.
Excellent – bitches be like , taking our jobs
What about leave for fathers? Or are they just not considered important in your world?
#notallfathers
I do support additional maternity payments and leave but what bugs me are the parents (mostly women it has to be said) who think the world should revolve around them just because they’ve reproduced. Newsflash: nobody cares! It’s just a mundane fact of life, get over yourselves. And stop clogging up my poxy Facebook while you’re at it. I need that space for Zooey Deschanel reaction gifs.
I used to think like that before I had kids.
Yeah me too. But I still like to be reminded every so often that there’s super chill people out there who dgaf that I have kids. Keeps me grounded.
So it is like getting a Brazilian then? You know I always figured as much
You come across as kind of creepy sometimes.
Thanks Fergus – that’s the intention. I hate cosy consensus and cliques and like to shake things up
Starting with your mickey
Lol I’m proud of my ability to provoke you C :)
We make a great team!
You’re Sideshow Bob
I’m the rake
Haha
Michael correctly points out that when you fall unemployed in Ireland you get a low payment in comparison to average wage. But he neglects to mention that social insurance (AKA PRSI) is much lower in Ireland than most European countries, so workers take more when they are in employment.
He also fails to say that means-tested jobseekers assistance is the SAME rate as jobseekers benefit (€188). So when your stamps run out you continue to get just as much. This is almost unique in Europe. In most other places your benefits DECLINE the longer you remain unemployed.
Traditionally Ireland has been weak on ‘activating’ the unemployed although this is improving. Financial sanctions for failure to engage with Intreo are uncommon. So it means you can stay unemployed in Ireland for a long time on €188 a week. You cannot do this in Denmark for example where engagement with the unemployed is more intense and benefits reduce over time.
There is a lot more I could write but attention span in comments section is short.
Thank you for not continuing.
Ah, facts. Here are a couple that appear to have evaded you: It’s Jobseeker’s Allowance, not Assistance. It is MEANS TESTED. This means (ding ding) that the claimant must PROVE by means (ding ding) of a series of demeaning steps that they are effectively DESTITUTE. If the DSP/INTREO representative that is dealing with the claim is an utter cnoot (more respected in the observance than omission) you’re in for a demoralising and soul-crushing experience.
No mention here of the extremely low participation rates in work in Ireland (huge numbers of households where no one works) or the low rates at which people in Ireland work all available hours compared to other European countries, both of which limit the tax take and thus the benefits which can be provided to people who do actually work when they need them.
Links would be nice.
Chapter 1 of last year’s OECD Report on Ireland: http://www.keepeek.com/Digital-Asset-Management/oecd/economics/oecd-economic-surveys-ireland-2015_eco_surveys-irl-2015-en#page5
‘Growing Together – Toward a more inclusive Ireland’
http://files.nesc.ie/nesc_reports/en/137_Jobless_Households.pdf
Stupid church didn’t have enough saints wha?
Let me see….
Feb, July, Nov and Sept do not have any Bank Holidays….
We could have the Feast of St Valentine in Feb
Stick one in June for John The Baptist which is the same day as the Summer Solstice for the dirty Pagans. I’m sure St John wasn’t born that day, but sure that’s Christianity for ya.
September, a day off to coincide with EP, because I said so.
Next, November…. two days in November, just because it’s fupping November.
We’ll need one also in mid-May because it’s a restless month, what, with exams and shih for some, so everyone else just wants to get away from the moanin’ students and kids.
That’s six new days off.
My work here is done. Tell Enda the consultancy fee is in the post.
– – – – –
All that aside, thank you for this post BS.
I’ll vote for this :)
Ireland is disappointing. In nearly every way.
Its always difficult to pick and choose the best social benefits/conditions from different countries.
In Denmark you get 90% of your wage when u are unemployed. You’ll also be kicked out of your house within six months if you miss a mortgage payment, no questions asked and no one in the rest of society likely to stick up for you.
In France they have amazing benefits, but also have 10.2% unemployment. International companies frequently cite the rigid economy as a reason not to invest there.
In Spain, they have fantastic maternity leave, but they also have a higher female unemployment rate for women vs men (the opposite of Ireland)
These things all interact with each other.
How?
+1
Everyone should take a leaf out of the French when it comes to working practices. They work a max 35 hour week leading to a better division of labour and better work life balance. Anything excess of that is over time. Workers show solidarity with one and other. The French have the right idea
I was recently at an EMEA training with my company where the French lads get 51 days holiday as opposed to my measly 21! Was sickening…
However, while there is a lot within French society we should aspire to, it is an incredibly frustrating place to live. Nothing is reliable and they are falling behind globally. Luckily they have the natural resources to go it alone, for now, because FDI is falling.
Not so sure it would be wise for us to copy them in all respects given how reliant we are on FDI. Our natural resources are not what theirs are, and we are not surrounded by some of the best economies, on land borders, in the world.
Having an EU wide standard in terms of holidays would be the best way to tackle that :)
Exactly. If we choose to pick the good parts of other economies make-up, we may have to accept the bad parts which come alongside it. We need to look at the Irish economy from its individual strengths and weakness. I dont think Michael Taft is wrong to suggest increased social benefits, but I think his comparison with other economies is the wrong way to do it. Ireland has one of the lowest unemployment rates and highest levels of growth in the EU – other countries would love to have those elements of the Irish economy, but there’s obviously reasons why they cant just do that overnight. Ditto improving our social benefits.
Ireland is (broadly speaking) tough if you’re short-term unemployed but gentle if you’re long-term unemployed. It has been like this when the economy is booming (2005, today) and when it is stagnating (2011).
The alternative to Ireland is a system that looks like Denmark:
-Higher PRSI (so lower take-home pay). NOT NICE
-Higher benefits for short-term unemployment. NICE.
-Benefits that decline over time. NOT NICE
-More of both carrot and stick for the long-term unemployed. A BIT OF BOTH.
The problem is that Taft proposes all of the nice things about Denmark but none of the not nice things.
Anyway these systems take DECADES to change. People are very fond of status quo and criticise even minor changes for the better. JobBridge is the most impressive labour market policy intervention in Ireland in a long time. It is not without flaws but it provides subsidised work experience to the low-skilled which at the individual level is the single most important thing future employers value.
The amount of vitriol it gets on this site is depressing. Pretend you’re a 21-year old who’s never worked with a so-so qualification from an IT and THEN slag it off. Over and out.
“The problem is that Taft proposes all of the nice things about Denmark but none of the not nice things.”
Your problem here is the things you list as not nice, specifically higher PRSI. A poll last week has already showed the Irish public want public services more than higher pay. This is sensible and encouraging. An extra hundred quid in your pocket won’t be noticed as much as tiny to non existent medical bills.
“JobBridge is the most impressive labour market policy intervention in Ireland in a long time.”
It’s one of the worst things to happen to the labour market in a long time and quite ironic that you’d choose that in a post about social welfare for workers. Job bridge was social welfare for employers. You had Tesco looking for shelf stackers on it FFS.
“Pretend you’re a 21-year old who’s never worked with a so-so qualification from an IT and THEN slag it off. Over and out.”
Or you could actually work a job bridge “internship” and THEN defend it.
Look “Fact Checker”, if you go rounding spouting facts around how JobBridge isnt in fact the most evil labour market policy since slavery, people on here will immediately assume you are a neo-con blueshirt right wing fascist. Go away with your common sense and factual position taking…
“if you go rounding spouting facts around how JobBridge isnt in fact the most evil labour market policy since slavery,”
You mean spouting *opinion*. You really need to learn the difference between a fact and an opinion. That you don’t know the difference explains a lot.
Dear Moyest.
Thankfully I have never had to use JobBridge because I have a level of skills and qualifications that keep me in permanent employment. I am extremely grateful for this. I do not mind paying tax, some of which goes to those who are not as lucky as me.
I am also very grateful to two different employers who took a chance on me 15 or so years ago when I had little formal qualifications and no experience. (There was no JobBridge then). This has helped me get to the position I am in today. I see modest societal benefits in my taxes subsidising workers at the very start of their career in order to gain them experience which can help their lifetime chances.
On PRSI, I am not in favour of higher rates, it does not appeal personally as a high earner, particularly because contributory state pensions are flat-rated at €230. Everywhere else in Europe they are proportional to what you pay in over your lifetime.
As to the societal costs and benefits I am agnostic. What I am saying is that if you want the nice things about Denmak you have to take the not nice things too.
Some great comments FactChecker.
Really interesting, and offer great food for thought. No society offers a utopia, even when they’re made to sound idyllic in the media. I have my issues with our social benefits, and taxation in this country but I know that you can’t have positive without negative. These things will all balance each other out.
My understanding of economics is not great, so apologies for the vagaries of the post.
“Thankfully I have never had to use JobBridge because I have a level of skills and qualifications that keep me in permanent employment.”
Fair play. Meanwhile there are qualified teachers and psychologists who have to use it and then find that need for their job suddenly disappears when their contract ends.
“On PRSI, I am not in favour of higher rates, it does not appeal personally as a high earner”
And yet, you say “I am extremely grateful for this. I do not mind paying tax, some of which goes to those who are not as lucky as me.”
“particularly because contributory state pensions are flat-rated at €230.”
You ever tried living on €230 a week?
“What I am saying is that if you want the nice things about Denmak you have to take the not nice things too.”
And if the good outweighs the bad, the people will accept it. They said last week that they’d prefer better public services than a measly extra few quid in their pay at the end of the month. That is sensible.
Thank you meadowlark.
I am not very interested in politics and labels. I am intensely curious about what policies work and what don’t though.
For example here is a review of the Back To Education Allowance which shows no evidence of an increase in the employability of participants.
http://www.esri.ie/news/no-evidence-that-the-back-to-education-allowance-employment-support-programme-is-effective-in-helping-unemployed-people-to-find-jobs-says-the-esri/
A review of JobBridge is due later this year. I look forward to reading it.
France has experienced years of sluggish economic growth, and restaurants close in the middle of the day as it is too expensive to staff them for the entire day (which has the effect of splitting workers’ shifts in two); I’m not sure that they have a model that we should seek to emulate.
Are you saying we should ignore France’s social welfare infrastructure because there are some restaurants that aren’t open all day?
No, I’m saying that one of the reasons that France’s economic growth was 1.1% (compared to Ireland’s 6.9%) is that there is too much red tape in the labour market.
So demand for stuff produced in France is stagnant because they treat employees well?
I don’t know, why don’t you tell me why why we are doing so much better relative to France?
Are we though? We have a higher output and the people at the very top are benefiting but average wages are less than what they were in 2008, not to mention the fact we work more hours for less benefits as well.
Demand for stuff produced in France is stagnant because its expensive to produce stuff there because the cost of employing people is high per unit produced.
That’s some impressive mental gymnastics there. No, wait. The opposite of that.
By 2008, salaries in Ireland had increased to insane levels, so I would query its usefulness as a baseline year.
France’s stringent labour laws make it difficult for young people to break into the job market – France’s youth unemployment rate is 26% (compared to Ireland’s 19%).
It’s true when you do get a job you are well taken care of in France, but that is cold-comfort for the millions of people there who have yet to get their first job.
sources – http://www.tradingeconomics.com/france/youth-unemployment-rate
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/ireland/youth-unemployment-rate
“less than they were in 2008”. So are house prices. So are bank profits. So is the level of construction activity. So is government spending growth rates.
Unsustainable or artificially high. 2008 is not the aspiration.
Awesome. Explain how my mental gymnastics are incorrect.
“So are house prices. So are bank profits. So is the level of construction activity. So is government spending growth rates.”
And yet GDP is up.
“Explain how my mental gymnastics are incorrect.”
Ok. Why don’t you tell me about all the things you decided not to buy because the company that made them spent too much money on employee benefits?
French cars are in my opinion overpriced. I bought a German car because it offered a better overall product vs price.
Paris is an horrifically expensive city to visit. I would be quite reluctant to go there again for this reason. London or Madrid/Barcelona offer better value for money in my opinion.
And you know a Peugeot is overpriced because of employee benefits? Also,http://www.independent.ie/life/travel/travel-news/dublin-among-europes-top-20-most-expensive-cities-for-expats-30821875.html You say London offers better value for money than Paris yet it’s only one place behind it in a cost of living survey.
1. value does not equal cost
2. i said i don’t buy overpriced French goods because i believe them to be overpriced. This is a fact, that i don’t buy them, based on my opinion, that they are overpriced. I suggested that that French goods are overpriced/too expensive because of things like better benefits etc. This is an opinion which results in a fact (that i don’t buy them). See how I’m learning about facts and opinions from you?
Owen, You ‘won’ this about 2 scrolls ago. Moyest is just employing his usual tactic of carpetbombing bs to cover up. Don’t sink.
1. Ok, so explain to me how London offering better value for money means something other than stuff costing less.
2. So I can take it you’ve actually got no idea if employee benefits are harming the French economy then.
I do like it when the Fragile Types have to give each other moral support.
@ Moyest
OECD report on France 2015.
Main findings
• High public spending leads to an excessive tax burden.
• The labour market remains inflexible.
• Training is lacking for the low-skilled and unemployed.
• Regulations are excessively complex and some of them
inhibit competition.
From the first line of the press release: “the key challenge is to reform the labour market to promote job growth”
http://www.oecd.org/france/economic-survey-france.htm
Ok. So;
Lots of spending means higher taxes.
There are too many underskilled people
Some regulations might inhibit competition.
What does any of that have to do with what we are talking about? Do you even remember what we are talking about?
Brilliantly, even by your lofty standards, you have completely ignored the part where it says there needs to be reform of the labour market. In both the bullet point as well as the press release. Are you a full time idiot, or just interning for that on a Jobbridge scheme? You are a complete and total clown.
“you have completely ignored the part where it says there needs to be reform of the labour market.”
And what does that have to do with your hilarious assertion that the French economy is growing at 1.1% because workers get more sick days?
“Reforming the French labour market is an essential precondition for any growth and well-being strategy. Reforms under way are many, ranging from the reduction of labour costs through the Competitiveness and Employment tax credit….
…Employment protection legislation which is relatively restrictive compared to other OECD countries discourages hiring into stable jobs and contributes to labour market segmentation and low labour mobility. The goal must thus be to boost work incentives, continue to cut the cost of labour, revise certain aspects of its protections and enhance the quality of the workforce”.
Moyest
honestly, children who eat crayons would make more sense than you do.
Higher benefits = higher cost of employment
Higher cost of employment = high cost of production
High cost of production = higher price of goods/services
Higher cost of good/services absent higher quality = lower level of sales
Lower level of sales = lower GDP growth
We all know you are just trolling at this stage, but i still think its insightful for everyone to realise what a complete idiot and spoofer you are, and that the vast majority of your posts on here are now simply attempts at trolling.
Again, you’ve not answered the question. You’ve copied and pasted something you don’t really understand.
Buddy, I’ve held you account for the hilarious stupidity you present here on a regular basis. You clearly just make stuff up as you go along. I’m pretty sure everyone can see that but thanks for confirming to us all that you really haven’t got a clue what you’re talking about. Ever.
Well done. Take your ball away and go sulk. I cite an international report on the French economy, but obviously i’m just making stuff up. You don’t even make stuff up, but just try to obfusticate and throw back new questions without dealing with the previous answers. If you ever graduate from the paint tasting jobbridge scheme you are on, you’d make a mediocre but not terrible filibusterer in the US senate. Buh bye.
You copied and pasted paragraphs from a report you clearly don’t understand and highlight bullet points that have nothing to do with what we’re talking about because you want to distract people from the clear fact you’ve embarrassed yourself yet again. You’d rather go off on a tangent than admit you’re wrong. You’re a very strange “man” and clearly exceptionally dim.
why is the word “man” in inverted commas? why have you failed to express any opinion on why France has a troubled economy, but simply disagree it is what everyone else, including the OECD, thinks the problem is? You are devoid of any actual intelligent opinion.
And here’s Moyest to come do a poo on the carpet to ‘win’ the argument.
Keeps him off the streets, I guess.
@Owen I think BS commentariat prefer “isolation” to “interaction”.
In 1994, companies in Ireland were required to pay casual staff sick pay and holiday pay pro rata to staff rights. The first company you worked for in any week, if you were working for multiple companies, had to pay your PRSI. Companies were encouraged by the Department to staff casuals who had been more than a year working full-time while casual.
The years of the PDs, Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, the Greens and Labour, all echt-bourgeois parties, rolled away all these rights and turned us into a paradise for the public sector and executives, and hell for everyone else, especially the new “self-employed” class of manual workers.
Yes, look at the economic powerhouse that we were in 1994 compared to now…
….because cutting workers sick pay made us all rich?
The number of people claiming disability in Ireland skyrocketed between 2006 & 2011, so I certainly think it would be good to look into how these things are assessed.
http://www.davidmcwilliams.ie/2013/04/04/the-mystery-of-disability
And what percentage of GDP was spent on fraudulent sick pay?
I’m not sure if I should answer this, as you seem to be being willfully obtuse, but by its nature it is difficult to calculate how much is spent on fraudulent sick/disability claims.
My point is that, short of an ongoing war or something similar, it is not credible that the number of actual disabilities increased 36% over a four year period.
“as you seem to be being willfully obtuse”
Yep.
“it is not credible that the number of actual disabilities increased 36% over a four year period.”
Grand but if you’re going to imply that cutting employee benefits helped Ireland’s economy grow, you’re going to need some proof because, to me, that sounds ridiculous.
“by its nature it is difficult to calculate how much is spent on fraudulent sick/disability claims.”
Is it? You would hope your welfare system was keeping data on these kinds of outcomes no?
@Rob – also sometimes people are funnelled onto sick benefits because it makes unemployment look better than they really are. Completely political decision. Then, at some point people get mad about this, everyone is tested (you only have to look at the UK to see how well this is going) and then they are shipped back onto unemployment until the whole thing starts again.
Though in a recession, you do get higher rates of poor mental health so some of that increase may be genuine.
There weren’t loads of women out in the workforce at that time taking our jobs
Workers benefits my eye. I started my own business in June 2014. Took most of my wife’s and my own savings to do it. Anywhere I turned for help I was basically told to go away. No help from anywhere. This lot don’t care about S.M.E.’S. They only care about big business and their 12.5%. Thankfully now I’m starting to see a reward for my hard work. No thanks to anyone else. Just me with the backing of herself.
Fair play anyway, hop the business is going well and the work is paying off.
We need to be much better at nurturing people like you, it has been talked about forever but little has been done.
+1 fair play joe
(Self-employed people can claim benefits if they choose to pay PRSI)
– well done, and best of luck with the new enterprise
Hi Joe,
Can we have the name of your company and the number of people you employ so that we can include it on the list of succesful things we are responsible for? No need to respond, we’ll go ahead anyway.
Thanks.
– Fine Gael GE16 Team
The most self entitled people are those who set up their own businesses. How much welfare do you think the state should give you to be a capitalist scumbag?
Sorry I meant to type fun bag
Absolutely true I work in Dundalk for an Irish company that employs well over 200 people here in the town. On Enda’s campaign trail he called in Paypal and Xerox. Did he call into us? Did he F^&k!
They’re not that interested in the company that employs 10 or 20 people they want employment warehouses that employ a couple of hundred, which are normally run by multi-nationals which will up and move to a “cheaper cost base” in the next downturn.
One FG apologist got upset when i said FG is actually very bad for indigenous business.
They think competition was invented purely for X-factor. And with disarming honesty they keep telling us they ‘fixed’ the economy. It’s fixed all right :-)
Well done Joe on going it alone, it is not easy especially when the safety nets are not there for self employed.
Cheers lads
@Rob – also sometimes people are funnelled onto sick benefits because it makes unemployment look better than they really are. Completely political decision. Then, at some point people get mad about this, everyone is tested (you only have to look at the UK to see how well this is going) and then they are shipped back onto unemployment until the whole thing starts again.
Don, are you suggesting that Enda is using this as a tool to massage unemployment rates or is this just Don’s BS theory?
“is this just Don’s BS theory?”
Since you asked soooo nicely…
It happened in the UK in the 90s. So not unfeasible that it happens elsewhere.
This government have used every trick in the book to massage unemployment figures, including having letters sent to unemployed to encourage them to emigrate, to the Jobbridge scams.
Everything about this government is about the figures, & they don’t care how they get the figures they want, as long as they get them.
Why would you mention a Financial Transaction Tax when the government (The Tax Payer) currently owns 99.9% of Allied Irish Bank, 75% of Perm TSB and 14% of Bank of Ireland. Why would you mention a tax on these institutions until we off load the companies upon some pension funds and get the maximum price/return for the tax payer. These holdings in the banks are for sale.