Taxing Matters

Well, by the gods, this is turning windy. Gale day is no day to thatch, as my grandfather used to say, and the Government of this neck of the woods is finding that out. Ooops, did I say Woods? I did, I did, and funny that I should, but he’s been in the firing line for the deal he did with the religious orders on compensation for victims of abuse in institutions run by those self-same religious orders.

It is reported that he took personal charge of the negotiations when they looked like stalling and the orders (no, not ordures, silly!) were about to walk away. The then Attorney-General, one Michael McDowell, wasn’t informed, and he’s not shy about telling all and sundry.
It’s a bit of a mess, and the State’s financial watchdog, the Comptroller and Auditor General, said as much. He estimates that the cost will be higher than the man Pat Rabbitte calls Woodsie does.
But alongside that good old-fashioned political battle, there’s loads of other things. For example, there’s a bit of slap and tickle with a Government member of the Senate revealed to have sold ads for brothels while working for In Dublin – big deal! On a more serious note, a member of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party was involved in an accident while apparently over the alcohol limit. And deputy Michael Collins has been revealed to have had a bogus non-resident account for the purposes of avoiding tax.
The hits all add up. Nothing fatal in any of those, but the attrition has begun.
On the other side of the house as it were, we have the anti-waste charge brigade. According to their spokespersons, these people can’t afford to pay any more tax, these charges are double taxation, and they won’t pay.
Most people have resisted the temptation to ask them to set out exactly what tax they actually pay, and that’s a good thing. We actually have a very low tax regime in this country. At first glance. But when you add up the road tax, the tolls, the VAT, and especially the duty on alcohol and cigarettes, not to mention the Vehicle Registration Tax, and so on and on, actually we pay a lot.
Okay. But why do waste charges in Dublin trigger such rage in the big housing estates? After all one of the campaigners claimed that more tax should be paid by the big companies whose corporation tax was reduced by Charlie McCreevy. Fine, but they pay rates, we don’t. You could say, in fact, that this tax on business pays for a lot of the local Government that we get, both good and bad.
And whether the local people would prefer the big companies to up roots and go somewhere else, where rates are lower, taking their jobs with them, is another matter. It’s one thing to refuse to pay your bin tax. It’s another to lose your job. Joe Higgins might be less thanked then.
And another thing, people who won’t pay their bin charge seem to find no problem in paying motorway tolls. Seems to me that this is another double tax. But of course, refusing to pay a toll might mean that you couldn’t get to work. Which would mean losing money. And you wouldn’t want that, would you?
With all due respects, anti-bin campaigners often appear pretty selfish and anti-democratic. You mightn’t like decisions arrived at by democratic process, but the deal is clear, you accept them.
But there is a strong thread of thought in Dublin of opposition to the Guvvamint and Pollitishans no matter what. I’m all right Jack. Get yer bleedin’ hand out of my pocket bud. They know their rights, but go all numb at the mention of their responsibilities, and I mean their responsibilities as citizens of a democratic republic.
Personally, I think they should be girding their loins for another battle because economic consultants Indecon have recommended to the Government that they introduce water taxes and toll more roads. Taxes on petrol, motor taxes, and now tolls? Arrah, come on! That’s triple taxation!
Meanwhile, the anti-smoking drive by the Minister for Health reminds us that the Government can be just as intransigent as a garrulous community. The smokers in Fianna Fáil won’t forget the favour that Micheál Martin has done them when the time comes to replace Bertie. And if every smoker remembered him at election time, his party would suffer badly.
While Martin’s prohibitionism may be acceptable to a majority of the population, many of these people don’t go to pubs. Of those who do, a far higher number smoke, and will be a lot less affirmative.
But of course, there’s also the view that the row with the publicans is a distraction from the woes of the health service which has, as we speak, fallen into even greater disarray, with Accident and Emergency wards closing or refusing individuals.
Makes ya wonder. Why do the people who are so cheerful about going to prison chanting we-won’t-pay-the-bin-tax not get angry about this? Isn’t the issue here that the health service gets a lot of that precious tax money that the anti-waste chargers resent paying, and gives back very poor value indeed? Shouldn’t this be the focus of their anger?
Personally, I don’t mind paying taxes for services that work. It’s paying for services that don’t work that pisses me off.