Economy: Employment rights reformed
Wednesday, November 9th, 2011Employment Minister Richard Bruton has outlined his plan to streamline the employment rights and industrial relations structure. Stephen Dineen examines the proposed new system. Five employment rights agencies could be ‘streamlined’ into one entity to ensure employment law claims are simpler to make. At present there are five bodies that employees can approach for making claims of breach in employment rights or entitlement: the Labour Relations Commission, Rights Commissioners, the National Employment Rights Authority, the Equality Tribunal and the Employment Appeal Tribunal. Governed...[full story]
Economy: The Greek Crisis
Wednesday, November 9th, 2011A Greek exit from the euro could push up inflation and cause an Irish bank run, according to Karl Whelan. eolas considers the potential implications of its referendum. A country can change its currency in a weekend, UCD economics professor Karl Whelan has predicted, as the debate over Greece’s debt and referendum intensified. Whelan was speaking on The Late Debate on RTÉ Radio 1 after George Papandreou proposed a referendum on the EU’s new bail-out offer. Whelan added that capital could be controlled by halting electronic bank transfers for Saturday and Sunday and changing the denominations...[full story]
Education: Reforming plans
Wednesday, November 9th, 2011The Programme for Government aims to build a ‘knowledge society’ thus reversing the decline in educational standards. eolas sums up the Government’s main plans for reform and the progress to date. Modernisation Across the board, ICT will be integrated into education policy. This includes the merger of the National Centre for Technology in Education and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (legislation is needed), a new plan to develop ICT in teaching, learning and assessment, prioritising investment in broadband development, and pooling ICT procurement. As part of...[full story]
State Assets: Making industrial policy key
Wednesday, November 9th, 2011A state holding company would help better governance of the state companies and “unlock” billions through the sale of shares, Paul Sweeney tells Meadhbh Monahan. Fine Gael’s New Era concept is a more preferable option than privatisation, according to ICTU’s Chief Economist Paul Sweeney. In theory, a state holding company would hold the shares, which are currently held by the Department of Finance. Therefore, line departments would manage the companies e.g. CIE in transport and ESB in energy. This would free up “incompetent” civil servants “who know nothing about the commercial...[full story]
State Assets: Selling state assets: some key issues
Wednesday, November 9th, 2011With the Government committed to raising €2 billion from selling state owned companies, Stephen Keogh, Partner at William Fry, highlights some structural, legal and commercial issues to be considered in respect of such transactions. It is probably fair to say that the Irish experience of selling State owned companies has not always been a happy one. From the sale of Greencore in 1991, through the sale of Eircom in 1999, right up to the most recent major sale, the listing of Aer Lingus in 2006, many of these transactions have attracted some degree of controversy. This is not surprising...[full story]
State Assets: Taking an economic approach
Wednesday, November 9th, 2011ESRI economist Paul Gorecki tells Meadhbh Monahan about the options open to the Government when considering the future of state assets. There are three approaches that can be used in order to determine what assets should be sold to reach the €2 billion target, Gorecki began. Addressing an eolas seminar on state assets, he advocated the use of an economic approach which examines the rationale for public ownership, thereby identifying strategic assets, and which is consistent with the McCarthy report on state assets. The first approach, revenue maximisation, would involve advisers being...[full story]
State Assets: Ensuring effective privatization
Wednesday, November 9th, 2011The Government should “just focus on ESB,” investment analyst Nigel Hawkins tells Meadhbh Monahan. An advocate of privatisation, the Adam Smith Institute’s Nigel Hawkins tells eolas that, in considering the sale of state assets, the Government should make sure it gets ESB “right” because it could generate up to €8 billion. The other assets identified in the McCarthy report only have the potential to generate millions. The McCarthy report recognised that out of its 55 recommendations, the proposal to sell ESB’s electricity distribution businesses, generation assets, international...[full story]
State Assets: State-owned enterprise at a crossroads
Wednesday, November 9th, 2011New Era must be implemented in a coherent way that ensures the sustainability of the Irish economy according to University of Limerick economists Donal Palcic and Eoin Reeves. The future of public enterprise and the question of privatisation have become hot topics in the past few months. A number of recent government announcements have confirmed that the sale of shares in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) will form part of the response to the current fiscal crisis. At the time of writing the troika have arrived in Dublin for one of their periodic reviews of how Ireland is performing vis-à-vis...[full story]
Economy: Resolving Ireland’s crisis
Friday, May 13th, 2011The Government’s crisis resolution strategy is the correct one for a “treacherous” economic environment, writes Professor John McHale. The brief burst of optimism that followed the recent publication of the bank stress tests has faded. As fears of a Greek precedent on debt restructuring grow, and Portugal joins Greece and Ireland in the bail-out club, market yields have jumped back above their pre-stress test levels, indicating continued high expectations of an Irish default. Debate has inevitably returned to the appropriateness of Ireland’s crisis resolution strategy. Restoring...[full story]
Economy: Noonan in finance
Thursday, March 31st, 2011A political veteran takes on his toughest brief so far. Michael Noonan needs few lessons in the nuances of cabinet government nor in the hardships of leadership. The deficit and bail-out make the Minister for Finance post as unpopular as it is important. Appointed Minister for Justice just 18 months into his Dáil career, the Limerick City TD also oversaw health in the last Fine Gael-Labour administration. A former teacher, he represented Limerick East for nearly 30 years from 1981, before contesting the new seat in February. Fearing heavy losses, the party deposed John Bruton only for...[full story]
