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EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you the nine stories you need to know as you kick off your day.
1. #JOBSWATCH: There’s another good boost for Ireland’s burgeoning tech sector this morning, with the news that online filesharing service Dropbox is to open an international operations centre in Dublin – its first premises outside the US. It’s not known yet, however, how many jobs could be created.
2. #ROADS: One person has died, and five injured, in two separate crashes in the last 24 hours. A 42-year-old man died when the car he was driving crashed outside Tullow in Carlow yesterday afternoon, while five people were injured – three of them seriously – in a three-car accident in Mayo yesterday afternoon.
3. #BUDGET 2013: With only two days to go until the Budget, today’s papers are full of speculation and reports on what’s in and what’s out. Most papers seem agreed that child benefit payments will be lowered by €10 per child, and with a higher rate of property tax on houses worth over €1 million (the so-called ‘mansion tax’). The Irish Independent adds that the ‘mansion tax’ clause could now mean the 0.2 per cent rate of tax for other properties may be lowered.
4. #PAY: Despite the uncertainty about the Budget, only 3 per cent of employers say they intend to reduce employees’ pay next year – while almost 40 per cent say they’ll raise it. The IBEC survey also carries another warning about the prospect of the government making employers cover the first two weeks of an employee’s sick pay.
5. #STABBING: All three of the people arrested over Saturday morning’s stabbing in Rialto, in which one German man was killed and another serious injured, have been released without charge. Gardaí said files would be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.
6. #RACISM: GAA authorities in Ulster say they are to investigate allegations that a player was subject to racial abuse during yesterday’s Ulster senior football club final. Crossmaglen player Aaron Cunningham, whose father is black, alleged that he had received racial abuse from the opposing Kilcoo side. Ulster GAA has promised to investigate the matter.
7. #ISRAEL: The United Nations has warned that Israeli plans to proceed with building housing settlements in Palestinian areas of Jerusalem could deal a “fatal blow” to hopes for peace in the Middle East. The EU has also warned Israel over the plans, which follow the UN’s decision to allow Palestine as a non-member observer state – which Palestinians had described as acknowledgement of their statehood.
8. #CORPORATION TAX: Watchdogs in the UK are said to be targeting Google as part of an investigation into the lower-than-expected corporate tax levels paid by major corporations in Britain. The Times says Google is now in the sights of the Revenue – news which could be important for Ireland, where Google’s European HQ receives income from many other Google global operations.
9. #OMG: Can u believe it? D SMS txt msg is 20 yrs old 2day! It was on December 3, 1992 that a British engineer working for Vodafone sent the very first text message – telling a colleague: ‘Merry Christmas’. The 160-character messaging format is now a staple of daily communications.
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israeil will not stop till all the palestinians are dead or have left the country
Enda Kenny has been quoted as saying that the manufacture of boxes is an integral strategic element of the Irish Economy going forward.
I hate the use of the term “going forward” and I associate it singly with Brian Cowen. Whatever was wrong with “in the future”?
i wonder if the numerous IT companies like Google have chosen Ireland for their European HQ to do just exactly what Google are suspected of doing in the UK?, i mean we are not exactly renowned for our “regulatory/watchdog” prowess now are we?..
There was an article in the Sunday Times yesterday about how Dr Dre has set up the international headquarters of one of his businesses in Cork to avail of our tax breaks. The address is the same as an accountancy firm down there. He apparently made 84 million last year alone. We are becoming a complete joke! I think it is morally reprehensible for people who make so much money to use lax tax laws abroad to avoid paying their fair share.
You can add Amazon and Starbucks to the tax avoidance multinationals operating in the UK; Starbucks importing all their coffee from that well known coffee producing country…..Switzerland. And while you’re at it, those well known ‘British’ companies The AA and Boots also manage to magic ‘losses’ onto their balance sheets and export their profits to foreign fields, thus avoiding Corporation Tax. Meanwhile, back in the real world of finance, I am in a dialogue with HMRC over the sum of £1.84 which they’re adamant I owe them from 2010. As a retired member of the PAYE community my attempts at avoiding this princely sum seem to be coming to nought.
You’d have to wonder how many of the jobs that are “created” are going to people here also and how many are going to people with the required experience that are brought in from abroad. Is there any any drive for compulsory development programmes to train/up-skill local people into these jobs?
it’s the only reason!! I thought it was common knowledge
And what’s so wrong with it if it means some of the many thousands unemployed can get some meaningful work ? THey may be coming here for tax reasons, but at least they are in some way contributing to our little country. Let them, I say.
Are we on the cusp of creating an employment bubble by allowing firms to exist with little or no corporation tax ie Google, Subway and now Dropbox. They’ll head for the hills the minute the money situation changes! Just provides a headline for a TD and a small few lines on exit!
Why are some of you giving out about these companies utilising our tax breaks? Those companies coming here make up part of our tax take, we have been protecting our corporation tax regime all the way. Attracting these companies here is good for our little country so…..Leave it out!
it’s not really good for our little country though, it’s temporary and as someone said earlier all these corpo’s will run for the hills the second they have to pay their taxes!!
@gary, every economic idea this country has ever come up with is Temporary as you say. this is the only way we can survive in the global economy, entice companies here with the promise of low tax, and let Ireland benefit from the employment and subsequent economy that springs up around these giants. If their exploitation of low taxes means a few hundred irish unemployed irish people can get jobs, then fair play.
Any jobs for the rest of Ireland
Obama is going to real-in the “tax exiles”. In stroke of a pen he will snooker IRE. I am not blaming him. on the face of it he is probably right. But once they are here lets make use of it as much as possible. keep em comin!
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