Irish Exchequer deficit at €6bn in September: Is €1.2bn better than target
Hopes for easier Budget as exchequer deficit is about €1.2bn better.
The Irish Exchequer deficit was at €6bn in September, which was an improvement of €1.2bn on the target that was set in last October’s budget with tax revenues up €703m.
Overall, the Exchequer deficit at end September 2014 stood at €5.96bn compared to €7.14bn in 2013 and the improvement of €1.2bn on the Budget 2014 target was driven by increased tax receipts and reduced interest expenditure.
Total tax revenue of €28.87bn was collected to end-September, an increase of €2.0bn (7.4%) on the same period last year. In addition, cumulative tax revenues are €703m (2.5%) ahead of target. With regards to the month of September, tax revenues were €268m (6.3%) below the monthly target. A significant portion of the shortfall for the month, c. €220m, was in respect of delayed monies in relation to the levy on pension funds according to the Department of Finance.
Income tax totalled €11,768m to end-September, an increase of €956m (8.8%) year-on-year and up €136m (1.2%) on target. For the month of September, income tax receipts of €1.18bn were €37m (3.0%) below target.
VAT receipts for the year to date totalled €8.96bn, up €280m (3.2%) on target and up €550m (6.5%) in year-on-year terms.
Corporation tax receipts for the year to date of €2.71bn are up €77m (2.9%) year-on-year and €108m (4.1%) above target. Corporation tax receipts for the month of September at €327m are €78m (19.3%) below target.
Excise duties, at €3.56bn for the first nine months of the year, are €217m (6.5%) up year-on-year and also up €197m (5.8%) against target. In September, excise receipts were €41m (11.5%) above the monthly target.
Cumulative Stamp Duties at €1.03bn down €62m (5.6%) year-on-year and down €41m (3.8%) on target.
Local Property Tax (LPT) receipts of €385m to end-September are €15m (3.8%) below target.
Taken together, the remaining smaller tax-heads – – Customs, CGT and CAT – – are up €67m (19.0%) year-on-year and €5m (1.2%) above target
Overall net voted expenditure to end-September, at €30.98bn is down €630m (2.0%) year-on-year and is €14m (0.0%) above target.
Total Exchequer debt serving costs at end-September 2014 were €5.61bn, a year-on-year increase of €100m or 1.8%. Interest expenditure – – the largest component of debt servicing – – was 7.3% below the Budget 2014 target at end-September 2014.
Current health spending was up €390m while the social protection budget was up €20 despite a fall in employment.
Peter Vale, tax partner at Grant Thornton, commented: “Today’s figures show that both tax receipts and control over spending are in good shape. Increasing consumer confidence and lower unemployment figures are reflected in VAT and income tax receipts that are both on target and well ahead of last year.
On the face of it, today’s figures reinforce the argument that Minister Noonan has scope to ease the pain for taxpayers in the Budget. However, there is increasing external pressure from the EU and IMF, and from some closer to home, to maintain a prudent position. What had looked like being a neutral budget, with many seeing their tax bills falling, now looks less certain. It’s possible that many of the promised tax reductions will be deferred until this time next year.
A postponement of any tax cuts would impact adversely on the domestic economy next year. This may encourage Minister Noonan to introduce tax incentives aimed at encouraging investment in Irish businesses; this would neutralise the adverse impact of additional taxes draining money out of the economy. Ireland lags significantly behind the UK in terms of providing incentives to those seeking to invest in businesses, a point stressed in pre-Budget submissions.
On the international front, it’s now looking very likely that the Budget speech will herald changes to Ireland’s tax regime for overseas investors. What’s critical is that there is certainty as to Ireland’s future tax strategy, with an alternative offering that does not in any way compromise on our existing competiveness. Any uncertainty as to what the Irish tax landscape will look like would pose serious risks to both existing and future foreign investment in Ireland.”
Here’s what PAC discovered about how our public money was wasted
It has also listed spending recommendations to public bodies.
The public accounts Committee highlighted a number of ways in which public money was wasted in a report published this afternoon.
It says the report flows from a series of meetings which pointed to waste of exchequer funding in a number of public bodies.
PAC chairman John McGuinness said the document provides “valuable lessons for all public bodies in project management and general governance controls”.
“While the focus of the original report of the Comptroller & Auditor General is on specific issues where the outcome differed from what was intended…
The focus of this PAC report is on what can be learned and what can be applied across the public service.
So what did the report find?
State Pathology
PAC found that the Department of Justice and Equality wrote-off €2.78 million in 2012 after the abandonment of a project to build new offices for the State Pathologist.
It advises that, where a public body does not have a dedicated capital project unit, all its major capital projects should be put under the care and management of the Office of Public Works.
Land Swap Arrangements
The report found that land swap commitments were entered into without a full risk assessment.
The PAC says this was due to the lack of a lead agency acting on behalf of the State.
As a result, the State has incurred extra costs of over €1 million arising from the failure to fulfil a land swap with a developer involving a Harcourt Terrace site.
National Gallery
The National Gallery agreed to pay a net total of €40,000 in ‘removal expenses’ to a new Director.
The report calls for a guidance note to be drawn up to cater for situations where the public service needs to recruit talent from abroad and where such appointees incur extra costs arising from the need to relocate here.
Waterford IT
The Committee found that weaknesses in governance at Waterford IT resulted in a failure to challenge inappropriate levels of expenditure and breaches of procurement rules.
The report calls for the Higher Education Authority to establish networks of key officials involved in controls in third level institutions.
It also advises each third level college to develop a whistle-blowers charter using the charter currently being rolled out in WIT as a blue-print.
Irish Pensioners face income cut over levy, IAPF warns
IAPF says a pensioner on retirement income of €10,000 per year would be paying a levy this year of €1,125Jerry Moriarty, chief executive of the Irish Association of Pension Funds:
Government appears to have forgotten the voting strength of pensionersMore than 13,000 pensioners face a cut in their retirement income if the Government does not withdraw the pensions levy in the forthcoming budget, according to an industry survey.
The Irish Association of Pension Funds (IAPF), which represents the pensions sector, says more than half of all private sector defined-benefit pensioners – about 36,000 people – have suffered a reduction in their income as the Government effectively taxed their retirement funds over the past four years.“
Almost half of the balance – 21% of schemes, representing approximately 13,000 pensioners – say they will have to reduce pension benefits if the Government reneges on its promise to halt this grossly unfair savings tax.
” the IAPF said.IAPF chief executive Jerry Moriarty said the Government appears to have forgotten the voting strength of pensioners who “understandably . . . will point the finger at the Government”.The IAPF said a pensioner on retirement income of €10,000 per year would be paying a levy this year of €1,125 assuming the 2014 double levy of 0.75% cent on a capital value of €150,000.
IAPF says a pensioner on retirement income of €10,000 per year would be paying a levy this year of €1,125Jerry Moriarty, chief executive of the Irish Association of Pension Funds: Government appears to have forgotten the voting strength of pensionersMore than 13,000 pensioners face a cut in their retirement income if the Government does not withdraw the pensions levy in the forthcoming budget, according to an industry survey.
The Irish Association of Pension Funds (IAPF), which represents the pensions sector, says more than half of all private sector defined-benefit pensioners – about 36,000 people – have suffered a reduction in their income as the Government effectively taxed their retirement funds over the past four years.
“Almost half of the balance – 21% of schemes, representing approximately 13,000 pensioners – say they will have to reduce pension benefits if the Government reneges on its promise to halt this grossly unfair savings tax,
” the IAPF said.IAPF chief executive Jerry Moriarty said the Government appears to have forgotten the voting strength of pensioners who “understandably . . . will point the finger at the Government”.The IAPF said a pensioner on retirement income of €10,000 per year would be paying a levy this year of €1,125 assuming the 2014 double levy of 0.75% cent on a capital value of €150,000.
Bankruptcies registered in Ireland this year now stands at 300
The number of bankruptcies registered in Ireland to date have increased 8 fold, when compared with figures from 2011.
According to the latest figures from business risk analyst firm, Vision-net.ie, the number of registered bankruptcies stands at 300, with just 35 recorded three years ago.
Dublin reported the highest number, with 77 bankruptcies, followed by Kildare, Cork and Wicklow.
The figures show Dublin reported the highest number of bankruptcies nationally with 77. Followed by 32 in Kildare, 28 in Cork, while Wicklow recorded 22.
But, despite this, the report finds the number of new start-up businesses also continue to grow, with 32,277 company and business start-ups established in 2014, a 3% rise on figures for last year.
In particular, the Irish tech start-up sector is performing strongly with over a 1,000 start-ups established during the first nine months of 2014.
The motor trade has experienced the most significant drop in the number of company failures, with a decline of 36%.
Wild mushroom warning as 11 children and 7 adults poisoned in Ireland
Food watchdog warns cooking is not enough to kill potentially toxic chemicals,
Safety advice has been issued on wild mushrooms as figures reveal 11 children and seven adults are known to have been poisoned by fungal organisms this year.
Safety advice has been issued on wild mushrooms as figures reveal 11 children and seven adults are known to have been poisoned by fungal organisms this year.
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has strongly advised people not to eat wild mushrooms without the advice of an expert mushroom forager.
It called on parents to be vigilant in relation to children near wild mushrooms.
The warning coincides with the start of the foraging season, and an increase in inquiries to the National Poisons Information Centre of Ireland in relation to wild mushroom consumption.
In 2013, 19 cases of poisoning related to wild mushrooms were notified to the centre involving seven adults and 12 children.
To date this year, 18 cases have been notified, involving seven adults and 11 children.
All the children had eaten wild mushrooms accidentally.
FSAI director of consumer protection Ray Ellard said: “The high number of cases involving children in particular points to the need for parents and guardians to be vigilant and to teach children not to eat wild mushrooms,” he said.
“We’re advising parents and guardians to specifically watch children who may be playing in gardens or fields where wild mushrooms could be growing in case they accidentally eat a poisonous mushroom.”
According to Mr Ellard, it is extremely difficult for amateur mushroom foragers to distinguish between safe and poisonous mushrooms growing in the wild. “Given the serious health implications, we’re advising people to be aware of the risks involved and to seek specialist advice from an experienced mushroom forager if they plan to undertake this activity,” he said.
“In our opinion, websites and books showing visuals of mushrooms are not sufficient to identify safe mushrooms and we would not recommend people to solely rely on these to determine the safety of a wild mushroom.”
He said it was important to note cooking does not kill potentially toxic chemicals that can be found in some wild mushrooms.
“Eating a wild poisonous mushroom, raw or cooked, can result in people becoming very ill with symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea and, in some cases, it can result in liver failure,” Mr Ellard said.
There are 14 native species of mushrooms growing in Ireland that can cause food poisoning.
A further 13 species can cause hepatic and renal toxicity and ultimately can be life-threatening.
Consumers with food safety queries about wild mushrooms can contact the FSAI Advice Line on 1890 33 66 77 or the Poisons Information Centre of Ireland on 01-8092166 or at http://www.poisons.ie
Human consumption is main reason for wildlife loss
The plight of much of the world’s wildlife seems ‘worse than ever’, writes Alex Kirby. To blame is unsustainable human consumption, which is driving habitat loss, climate change and the illegal wildlife trade.
The scale of biodiversity loss, and damage to the very ecosystems that are essential to our existence is alarming. This damage is not inevitable but a consequence of the way we choose to live.
Human pressure has halved the numbers of many of the Earth’s wild creatures in just four decades, the Worldwide Fund for Nature says.
While the main recorded threat to biodiversity comes from habitat loss and degradation, it found, climate change is a growing concern. Both are driven by unsustainable human consumption.
WWF’s Living Planet Report 2014 says that vertebrate wildlife populations have declined by an average of just over half, with freshwater species suffering a 76% decline, almost double the average loss of land and ocean species.
In a foreword the director-general of WWF International, Marco Lambertini, writes: “This latest edition of the Living Planet Report is not for the faint-hearted.
“One key point that jumps out is that theLiving Planet Index (LPI), which measures more than 10,000 representative populations of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish, has declined by 52% since 1970.
“Put another way, in less than two human generations, population sizes of vertebrate species have dropped by half.”
The Report is based on the Index, a database maintained by the Zoological Society of London(ZSL).
Industrial-scale killing
According to WWF, the state of the world’s biodiversity “appears worse than ever.” But it is confident in the robustness of its findings:
“This is a much bigger decrease than has been reported previously, as a result of a new methodology which aims to be more representative of global biodiversity.”
The authors calculated the decline by analysing 10,000 different populations of 3,000 vertebrates. This data was then, for the first time, used to create a representative Living Planet Index, reflecting the state of all 45,000 known vertebrates. The consequences, it shows, can be drastic.
Last week conservationists said that elephant poaching was now happening on an unprecedented and “industrialised” scale in Mozambique, after 22 of the animals were killed for their tusks in the first two weeks of September. Numbers of some marine turtles are estimated to have dropped by 80%.
Professor Ken Norris, director of science at the ZSL, said: “The scale of biodiversity loss, and damage to the very ecosystems that are essential to our existence is alarming. This damage is not inevitable but a consequence of the way we choose to live.”
There is wide disagreement about the number of species on Earth. In 2007, when the total was estimated by many scientists at around 1.5 m (it is now thought to be 8.7 m) the number of vertebrate species was put at about 60,000 in the IUCN Red List.
WWF says too that humans are using more resources than the Earth can continue to provide, felling trees more quickly than they can regrow, for example, catching fish faster than they can reproduce, emptying rivers and aquifers – and emitting too much carbon for natural systems to absorb.
Boundaries crossed
The Report devotes a section to the idea of the Ecological Footprint, the sum of the ecological services that people demand which compete for space. For more than 40 years, it says, humanity’s demand on nature has exceeded what the planet can replenish, principally through climate change.
“Carbon from burning fossil fuels has been the dominant component of humanity’s Ecological Footprint for more than half a century, and remains on an upward trend. In 1961, carbon was 36% of our total Footprint; by 2010, it comprised 53%.”
WWF urges respect for “planetary boundaries” beyond which humanity will “enter a danger zone where abrupt negative changes are likely to occur.”
It says “three planetary boundaries appear to have already been transgressed: biodiversity loss, and changes to the climate and nitrogen cycle, with already visible impacts on the well-being of human health and our demands on food, water and energy.”
The Report argues for the diversion of investment away from the causes of environmental problems and towards solutions, and for “ecologically informed” choices about how we manage resources.
Next year world leaders are due to conclude two critical global agreements: the post-2015 development framework, which will include Sustainable Development Goals intended to be met by all countries by 2030; and a UN treaty leading to effective action to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
