The Anonymous Widower

What Do We Do With the Irish Problem?

At times, I think the euro is a good idea.  But to be fair, it will only work, if everybody acts as a team and plays the same way and to the same objectives.  But Greece and now Ireland have taken advantage of the rules to play the game their way. Robert Peston wrote a very good piece on his blog yesterday and got right to the point.

Ireland has got itself in this mess by pursuing an unsubstanable property bubble and then bailing out the banks and the builders with loans from the European Central Bank.

But what started it?

For more years than I can remember, Irish thoroughbred breeders got it easy in the region of taxes.  There were so many crazy rules, such as stallion fees being except of tax and that is why all the best stallions outside Middle Eastern ownership are in Ireland. And when it came to sell yearings and fials, did English breeders get the price their horse deserved?  Sometimes but not always!  In fact because of the racehorse tax situation, Tattersalls, the auctioneers, thought about moving to Ireland.

In fact you might argue, that the parlous state of racing and breeding in the UK, France, Germany and Italy, is down to the Irish and their feather-bedded industry!

But it’s not just horse owners and breeders, that get this treatment.

Irish corporate taxes are out of line with the rest of Europe and consequently, many companies use Ireland as a legal way of minimising taxes.

This is wrong and European finances will not return to sanity until we all play by similar rules in the areas of budget deficits, corporate taxes, working practices andpensions.

But it will not be easy, as look at the problems, France has been having trying to put a modicum of sense into its pensions.

So to repeat Gladstone’s famous question.  which of course was part of “If you solve the Irish question, the Irish change the question!”

So Ireland, you must change the question!  Ireland has one of the most educated populations in the EU. perhaps their insistence on not needing the bailout is a good policy and the start of this process.

But remember too, we have extensive investments in the country and they have a lot in the UK, so perhaps if we worked together more in all sorts of areas, we might both do each other some good, despite past troubles.

November 16, 2010 - Posted by AnonW | Business, Finance, News | Europe