What should be done with projected €65 billion budget surplus?

Yeah have seen a couple of documentaries on Norway's prisons system. It really is an eye opener.

But it comes back to my point if you have less victims of crime due to addressing the reasons for criminality like Norway do then you will have less need for prison spaces.

Ireland definitely need a new prison that's more down to prisoner welfare and by extension the people who work in prisons welfare.

Pay down the debt, but I can see the case for being able to imprison people with large numbers of convictions, especially if violence or threats were involved.

What if we took the 65 billion surplus and put it towards something that could actually make a proper difference? I'm talking about setting up a nationwide health screening programme.

The idea would be to get everyone to go for regular mandatory check-ups , but the frequency would depend on your age. When you're young and fit, you wouldn't need to go as often, but as you get older, they'd check you out for things typically found at that age. Screening could range from a general check up bloods, blood pressure , ECG etc. to more complex cancer screening, heart health, arteries, aneurisms stuff like that.

This kinda programme would put some serious strain on the health service initially, we'd need to revamp the whole thing and invest a mountain of cash. More resources, better facilities, and more doctors and nurses to handle the increased demand. But here's the beauty of it: in the long run, it would actually reduce the number of people showing up with complicated medical issues.

Think about it, if we catch diseases and conditions early on, they're way easier to treat. So, by implementing a screening programme, we'd be saving lives and making it less likely for people to end up needing more complex treatment and that means less pressure on the Health Service, a more efficient service and ultimately a health service that's cheaper to run.

Give something back to the taxpayers. Ya know that crowd that get up early in the morning, do a hard days slog and don't get home till late.

The cost of reservicing the debt was locked in when the rate was low.

2.9% is still relatively low.

Particularly if you can secure 10% yield on investment funds.

No doubt whatever they do it will be a screw up,

should be nothing added to the current bill for running the country .

should be capital investments only.

another prison or 2 for scum,

limerick cork motorway, eh actually make it cork to Sligo.

motorway from the west of Ireland to waterford also while we are at it.

remove vrt and vat on zero emission vehicles.

invest in some hydrogen fuel stations, there are none in the republic currently, and hydrogen powered vehicles are coming.

remove VAT on any home upgrades , solar panels etc. I dunno if this is the case already. There could be solar panels on every house in the country for 10-15 billion I reckon.

need big investment in EV charging capacity , such as high capacity charging stations every 50km along our motorways, and not mixed in with petrol stations.

whatever they do the people that actually use the country to do something for the country , (ie work) lives should be made easier , by improving infrastructure.

Housing, intra-city public transport, inter-city roads, prison with serious capacity, 2,000 seater stand on the popular side in the Markets Field.

We have had them before, results were, am mixed to be fair.

The use of electronic tagging has a mixed history in Ireland. A pilot programme for 31 prisoners, which took place in 2010, was beset with technical issues. Most of the equipment malfunctioned and some offenders had to keep the devices in their pockets after the straps broke. Two female offenders had to cut the devices off after their legs swelled up.

Isn't USC our most progressive tax? If you wanted to help people on lower incomes you'd be better off cutting VAT.

I think spend it on capital things, infrastructure here is decades behind and needs sustained investment. Some examples but a lot more than 65 billion needed.

Metro, high speed rail Belfast to Cork.

Water infrastructure upgrades more reservoirs, less leaks

Energy upgrades for government owned properties, insulate, heating controls, solar panels.

Social and affordable housing, cost rental, affordable housing for retired people etc...

Update the electricity grid, pay for interconnectors

Basically invest in the country and many of these things give a return do it's a win win

The absolute worst thing we could do with the unexpected budget surplus is use it to pay down extra on the national debt. When the economy is growing the debt is falling anyway in real terms.

It needs to be invested in programmes that will reduce the need to borrow more in the future not in paying down debt now.

People always fall in to the trap of believe that national debt is like a mortgage that needs to be cleared.

Pay down the national debt with at least half of it.

Some needs to be spend on bottleneck towns and villages around the country. A bypass is desperately needed around some towns.

More NGO's, we need more NGO's. 5 - 6 billion annually is rookie numbers. We need more NGO's to take taxpayers money to tell us what to think & do, and lecture us about how bad we are. /s