Ireland badly needs a new centre-right party - Here's my proposal

It became apparent to me years ago. How fg were nothing but big spending, decision avoiding liars, magic money trees of their own aplenty when needed. Of course as long as they can lie and have idiots still vote for them on that basis, financial prudence, rewarding the tax payer. They womt change their way. They are lucky the media here is so left leaning and gives them a free ride...

UK spends roughly the same per head, just delivers differently,council flat,free travel etc, add to that a lower cost of living,

I thought the under enda Kenny fg did a good job but iirc they weren't rewarded in the election.

Under Leo fg just spent money like water and now they they are in bed with ff who know how to buy an election or 2. They seem to be spending as much as possible so when Sinn Fein get in next time the cupboards are bare.

I agree with a lot of this. God help ffg if this new party emerges before the next election. Also this gem that's always trotted out, about the " market " having " failed "...

The market is big private business, its aim is profit maximization, like the vast majority of our employers...

It's a smokescreen bullshit lie, thrown out by government to deflect blame etc... government are meant to be there for the good of the people, not businesses....

Em... you remember the Celtic Tiger building boom? When half the apartments being built were to house Polish builders, because if they were going to work here building houses and apartments, they needed somewhere to live? Our borders are already open to the whole of the EU.

How is this plan of bringing in non-EU workers going to work, do you think? Are you talking a GAMA situation, where some Turkish workers were paid €3.00/hour instead of the €12/hour they should have been paid? You'd be suspending pay agreements for the non-EU-nationals, and minimum wage? And presumable - as they'd need somewhere to live and couldn't afford €1,600/month rents - they'd be confined to compounds? And of course you'd make sure they all leave the country when their contract was complete...

There are 265,000 people on the Live Register and PUP.

This figure is falling, which is great.

There are 15,000,000 unemployed across the EU.

And yet there are employers looking to hire Africans and Americans.

https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2021/1028/1256331-employment-permit-system/

A political party for workers would discourage non-EU immigration, until the 265,000 people are moved into jobs.

Seriously? Because you straight out said you wanted to hire them as cheap labour.

But nurses and other healthcare workers need to either qualify here or have equivalent degree-level qualifications from their own countries, and are employed by the HSE, on standard payscales. And they weren't/aren't hired because they'll work for less than Irish staff, they're hired because we've a huge shortage.

Building costs are cheap enough - the problem is land prices and profit margins.

Just leaving you with the problem of persuading several thousand Turkish (or wherever) workers to move to Ireland for €800/week (before tax), when their rent, in Dublin anyway, will be €1,600/month, minimum. And of course there won't be any trouble with Irish construction workers, or the far-right stirring up "They're coming over here taking our jobs!" bollocks.

We already have a Mica scandal now the government follywombles want to get exploited labour to build stuff, what could possibly go wrong,

We need to convince more people here to take up a trade. Having the highest rates of college attendance is great, but not so great when you can't get a plumber or electrician.

We also need to encourage the Irish trades that emigrated after 2009 crash to return. (Yes, housing them is an issues, yes)

I accept that all of my suggestions might not fit neatly into what other people define as "centre-right".

Yes, we need to radically cut the cost of development land. I am open to how that could be done, and you suggest SVT / hoarding taxes, etc., I agree. For example, the former Hickey's warehouse site on Parkgate street, Dublin sold for 30m, meaning any houses built there have to be expensive. I suggest that site should be 3m. Yes, I agree that this might need a constitutional referendum, but the housing crisis is so serious, that radical measures are required.

(if that sounds like a SF policy, I see what you mean, things are so bad in housing now, that centre-right politicians must accept that the market can't or won't solve the problem)

Turning to finance, yes, the ECB rate is low at 0%. But here is what I hear directly from a financial controller of a property developer:

they can't borrow at all from banks for sites/land without planning

with planning, banks will lend 60% (senior debt) at 5% or 6%, way too high

they put up 20% equity themselves

the remaining 20% is borrowed from mezzanine financers, often foreign lenders, at rates over 10%!!!

This results in very high finance costs of 16,716 per house in the GDA in 2020

Id say they are a populist party rather than a socialist one

I think the government plan calls for 20k housing units to be built every year whether this happens is hard to say. 35 per cost rise in housing materials, the supply chain crisis will make it more difficult.

I always thought Fianna Fáil were the Conservative and fine Gael were Liberal slightly left wing party

Ireland was one of the first country's to bring in gay marriage most young people are Liberal or slightly left wing

I agree. The same people already paying for the obscenely wasteful system...

There clearing forestry at a high rate up here, how long it takes between felling and market?, a lot of the other stuff is already easing,

Not free,and rent will be deducted at source,money returning to the state not some tax haven

All parties except FFG have proposed it