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MICHAEL NOONAN HAS downplayed fears that Universal Social Charge for 360,000 people will increase from 4 per cent top 7 per cent next year.
Noonan was responding to a story on the front of today’s Irish Independent which said that it would mean an increase of as much as €700 annually for a single income family on €40,000 a year.
The Finance Minister told RTÉ’s News at One that it was Fianna Fáil who had imposed the expiry date on the 4 per cent concession for certain categories of taxpayers, including families with a medical card and income not exceeding €60,000, in 2010.
“They’re like the people who planted the time-bomb and they want other people to change the timing mechanism on the bomb,” he said.
Continuing the analogy he had earlier deployed on Newstalk’s Lunchtime, Noonan said that the bomb was set “to go off” on 1 January next year but that the matter will be considered “very carefully” in the Budget in October.
“These things are manageable and when our priority is to protect vulnerable people you can see how it might be managed,” he said.
Noonan’s bombing analogy was criticised by one Fianna Fail TD, Barry Cowen responding on Twitter by saying there are “a lot of Angola’s (sic) about” – a reference to his brother Brian’s alleged remark that the Department of Health was like Angola because of the administrative landmines:
The veteran Fine Gael TD Noonan said it was too soon to be accurate about what the government might do, saying that this issue is among “hundreds” that will be discussed between now and Budget day in October.
He insisted: “I can’t make Budget announcements in the middle of May”.
The Finance Minister’s comments this lunchtime were in addition to a series of statements issued by Fine Gael and Labour backbenchers criticising Fianna Fáil for raising the matter in the first place.
“The fact of the matter is that the only reason there is any chance at all that people on medical cards will have to pay more next year, is because it was a specific provision of the budget legislation that Fianna Fáil rammed through in the dying days of the last government,” Labour’s Ciarán Lynch said.
Noonan also defend his welcoming of billionaire Donald Trump to Ireland earlier this week, saying that ‘The Donald’ had made an important investment in the country.
He added: “I can assure you if it was the IDA that were bringing a factory into Clare and I was invited to go down there and there was 300 jobs in it, I’d be there. ”
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Can anyone tell me when USC will end? How long is temporary?? I’m guessing it is here to stay..
It is temporary in that all human things are temporary but Newgrange is still around 5k years old.
FF robbed this country, FG and Lab are driving the get away car.
Aw, you thought it was going to end sometime. That’s so cute.
I’m hoping that FF will promise to get rid of it at the next general election to guarantee getting elected. Even I’d vote for the shower of treasonous gangsters if they did I’m sorry to say.
And that Diarmuid is precisely why we will never rid ourselves of the parasitic cronyism that blights our country.
Retire you dinosaur!
Fine gael like people who promised to diffuse a bomb but actually detonated it
They certainly detonated their own homemade incendiary bomb last night, in unleashing Eamonn Coghlan on the Irish Nation as a political debater !
He blew his chances of a seat in the Dublin bye election right out of the water , with his stupidity and gross FG ignorance .
Enda must be gnashing his teeth this morning after a sleepless night , he himself having been caught out red handed ,regarding his “Diary” entries !
I wonder are there many other dodgy diary entries there too ?
Jesus, Eamonn Coughlan was a disgrace, I was actually embarrassed for him.
Nice analogy Mark. Spot on.
Detonating bombs seems more like Sinn Fein’s line of expertise. Their only line of expertise really….
Mr Fantastic ,have you any new material than this old tired drivel ? Really pathetic trolling !
Ciarraioch
I do believe that you should stay well away from the subject of bombs and incendiary devices . After all it’s only a few days since a leading Member of your Military Wing was arrested and charged for being in possession of a 60 lb device in the car park of a Dublin Hotel. Anything around that subject matter is offensive as was the intent behind the device.
Thanks
Now Richard Rodgers – and there were all your fans on these pages thinking recently, from your remarks, that you and The Dissidents are Very Close Friends , you sharing bank accounts with them in The Isle of Man Tax Avoidance Scheme that you share with them .
Unfortunately for you Richard – you have the wrong guy here – I’m not going to join The Dissidents with you !
I hate violence and abhor any kinds of bombing or murder.
I’m a great believer in a The GFA and have great time for all those who wholly respect it too.
After all the Citizens of Ireland must live together in harmony and Unity ultimately !
I’m sure in the meantime that you will be able to generate a war somewhere ?
Why don’t you ask Canada to invade USA or the UK , or maybe The Isle of Man ?
See you at the counts next Saturday and thanks for all your help with the canvass – Your remarks have generated thousands of votes for you know who ? Yes SF – Richard – Thank you Sincerely a chara !
Ciarraioch
Oops I do believe you have lost the plot. On the one hand it’s offensive to listen to Shinners talking about incendiary bombs and then you have a public go at employers who engage workers in other countries because of the local nature of their work. Without a bank account I couldn’t possibly pay them!
So now we observe Sinn Fein opposed to the generation of business on a multi national basis.
My point is simple Mr Kerry. Your Military Wing are still active in the Republic of Ireland during elections
What part of a democratic society should tolerate that Mr Kerry?
Perhaps we should still ask people to vote for you because the target of the bomb was North of the Border?
Richard – Come down to the Election Counts in beautiful Kerry next Saturday a chara – We will treat you to lovely tea and vanilla slices , the nicest in Ireland .
We have no tax avoidance banks here though – you will have to go to the Isle of Man to visit your accounts for those !
See you …..a chara ?
Absolutely sick of the lot of them. The whole political system is rotten to the core. They are as bad as each other
It is. And things aren’t helped by RTE’s inability to programme properly. Why would you ask Noonan about last night’s Prime Time expose on Lottery money being used for slush funds (which it turns out he hadn’t even seen). Surely Fitzgerald and Reilly should have been asked about that
Similarly, why ask Trump about Clare without mentioning his business in Scotland
Finally, if you ask Noonan about USC he is obviously going to say that nothing has been decided yet
Interview was appalling. Badly researched, wrong interviewees, questions any idiot could have kicked off the pitch. Would drive you to despair
Sick to my back teeth of them blaming Fianna Fáil every time we elected ye to do a job, GET ON WITH IT
Well they signed use up so why shouldn’t they blame then. FF still have a leader from the previous administration, complete hypersonic
They can rush legislation trough in a couple of hours when it suits them,they have 4 years to change this and it can’t be done. Can’t wait for the next general election.
@ Declan: But how would YOU if you were the Minister fund the gap in the Budget left behind if USC was abolished? There would be a few billion euro of a gap there to fix. Which other areas would you cut? These are the kind of questions a Finance Minister in any country faces ahead of Budget day.
A more general comment. Noonan clearly stated this week that no decisions had been taken yet regarding the Budget. For a newspaper to then present a story stating definitively that this would happen is wrong. The FF Independent has clearly reverted to form and will likely have a slew of these scare-mongering stories ahead of the election. I expect Willie O’Dea and Celia Larkin will be dispatched on Sunday to write articles about the unfairness of it all and how things would be different under FF.
Unfortunately they are entitled to do that, but what I find disgusting is that so many families who are struggling will be left in fear because a newspaper wants to support its favourite party.
It seems Ryan that nowadays newspapers like to try and make the news rather than report the news. They just end up getting people all fired up and this suits,their own agenda. It’s a crazy carry on, the trouble is people see these headlines and take it for gospel.
Exactly mcbab. Part of it is about getting people fired up – especially with misleading headlines. But actually making up a story like this to fire people up is wrong on so many journalistic levels.
Wonder how the FG trolls will try and spin this?
John/Seb and Richie Rodgers when you’re ready lads.
“it was Fianna Fáil who had imposed the expiry date on the 4 per cent concession for certain categories of taxpayers”
That’s how it’ll be spun!
Government can change the expiry date, surely they were aware of it before now.Bit stupid of them to allow this come out before the elections.
LesBehan – FF might have imposed the expiry date but FG are imposing the increase except for those that earn 100,000 plus, their USC is going for 10% to 7%, nice for the rich again!
FF and FG are both cheeks of the same arse Jim.
Where are labour on this as then wanted to put another 3% on people on more than 100k
O sorry I forgot sure labour are just there to make up the numbers
Same bull blame FF
FG and Labour blew families apart with there policy’s and election lies
They failed to get 3% usc on earning over 100k but ye were able to
1) Cut child benefit
2) Tax maternity benefit
3) Cut maternity benefit
4) Tax water
5) Tax the home
6) Cut the phone allowance to old age people
7) put more carbon tax on
It make me sick to think that any person could vote for this government or FF
Stand up and wipe them out on the 23rd
Galway 2007
You were going grand until you got to the last sentence and gave away your Membership of a Party contesting next weeks elections.
will do.
I am a member of no party just a father of 3 young kids trying to survive who is living in the real world
Sorry Mikie, you dropped 40 years worth of anglo debt on our kids and grandkids, don’t try to make out you are any less despicable than the people you replaced.
But aren’t Labour in their election ads saying we have 30 billion less banking debt, surely they’re not lying.
They’re not lying. There’s 30 billion less banking debt, because it’s been converted into sovereign debt instead. Result!
Guess you can’t type sarcasm.
Blaming FF is getting tiresome.
Worst Govt ever.
Who would you prefer? Sinn Fein? A party so economically illiterate they’d have us looking for another bailout by the end of the week.
Mr.Fantastic you were praising Fianna Fail earlier. You can’t get any more “economically illiterate” that Fianna Fail :-)
Mr Fantastic – What are your other Trolling non de plumes please ?
Don’t I recognise your “style” , or lack of it ! Sorry , your snide Blueshirt FG ignorance , from your other Troll names ?
Come clean and shame the devil ?
Mr ’64 billion is a few euro here and there’ Fantastic is an expert on economic matters. I’m sure that he’s both read and understood SF’s economic policies.
Not defending FG. People are reacting to austerity like a spoilt teenager reacts to their parents when their pocket money is taken away. I guarantee that in 5 years people will look back at the FF government and realise that really they were the best option we had.
Been played like a stradivarius .. isn’t that true,Mr Fantastic ?
Kids still get fed and keep there roof over there head if there pocket money is taken from them. Stupid statement
*their
@mr fantastic. Does your rear-end ever get jealous of your mouth with the amount of crap that cones out of it?
@Patrick. I wouldn’t know. I’ll defer to your expertise on this one.
“Noonan said that the bomb was set “to go off” on 1 January next year but that the matter will be considered “very carefully” in the Budget in October.” Well that’s it from that one sentence you just know it will be implemented along with the familiar refrain its your fault FF we are just mindless quislings implementing the Troikas instructions.
Third world nations tend to have economies dependent on the developed countries and are generally characterized as poor with unstable governments and having high rates of population growth, illiteracy, and disease. A key factor is the lack of a middle class — with impoverished millions in a vast lower economic class and a very small elite upper class controlling the country’s wealth and resources. Most third world nations also have a very large foreign debt.
Mr. Fantastic, we do live in a third world country.
Look at today’s list of top companies in Ireland. We might as well stop calling this place Ireland
Victim complex.
Not at all Mr. Fantastic, just stating the definition/classification of a ‘third world country’ according to the Encyclopaedia of World Geography.
An article about a 70 year old Failed career politician being criticized by a T.D who’s drunken ,slovenly, inept and incompetent brother was one of the main reasons for the collapse of this state…..
Christ is this what passes as newsworthy!!
This is what passes for politicians!
It kinda looks like hes been dribbling in the pic!!!!!!!!
What a feckin slimeball! He won’t say that he is not going to change the thing so we can be sure that the USC will be rising to 7% for 250.000 people in January because of this half baked Turkey!
Protect vulnerable people!! Don’t make me laugh! Total halfwit
Time bomb? Cut the blue(shirt) wire!
Noonan is living in a different world to the rest of us, he talks about silver bullets and time bombs. I think he will start talking about unicorns and werewolves, if he hasn’t already done so.
We know that FF set this date but FG&LAB have the power to change this by drafting new legislation.
Sure why bother after the 1st Jan they can all jump up & down and blame FF for it nothing to do with us.
Sick of the blame game at this stage.
USC was introduced as a 1 year economic recovery and solidarity tax by Brian Lenihan…and the overlords have ensured the peasants will continue to pay this nothing tax. If you were wondering how they were going to tax fresh air…they’ve done it…it’s called USC
He’s just using it to gut the soldiers of destiny as a political stunt and take the spotlight of him and his labour pet doggies
“These things are manageable and when our priority is to protect vulnerable people you can see how it might be managed,”
Political poetry at its finest.
The only people trolling are those who say they’re struggling to get by every time a few euro is taken off them to help the country get back on its feet. I don’t believe any of it. You’d swear we were living in a third world country, attention seekers.
You’re funny. You must live in a bubble. You clearly have no idea what it’s like out here in the real world.
Journal mods, why did you remove his original comment? Better to have left it up, I can’t see how it violated the comments policy, and it would have triggered some funny responses, it was that ridiculous.
I’m guessing it was the strong SF bias on this site.
Mr Fantastic, there are a lot of flat broke people out there.
If it wasn’t for the Fine Gael government they’d be loaded. That’s what Sinn Fein tell them, and they believe it. Still they each have a vote each so who knows what kind of mad lunacy we have ahead if Sinn Fein end up in Government due to people’s gullibility. When the Sinn Fein sugar merchant rolls up to their door with their fantasy economics promising free money, the gullible are willing to follow.
They are not going to increase the cost of employment next year so I don’t know why people are up in arms over a newspaper headline. Have u nothing better to think about!
We borrowed 12 billion later years to fund the deficit. None of which was banking costs.
Where do the people here suggest we get the money? Increase income tax again? Increase the tax on property wealth? Confiscate a percentage of deposits above say 50 grand ?
David, this is just income tax by any other name.
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