Fine Gael voter any minute now, absolutely terrified of public spending: IT’S NOT OUR MONEY TO SPEND. IRELAND IS ONLY ENTITLED TO 1% OF THE 13 BILLION.
Callme-Sal on
Ok, that’s fine. Let’s spend it on critical infrastructure. Some houses, the Dublin metro, some schools and the Cork-Limerick motorway would be great.
Vivid_Pond_7262 on
No bother. Spend it on one-off capital projects.
Strict-Gap9062 on
Subtle way of letting us know we won’t see one cent of that in our pockets and it will be pissed away by their good selves on god knows what. They could do so much good with that money if used wisely.
Diamondhands26 on
Monorail time
Fidel_castrolGTX on
Build houses you cunts
cliff_celb on
We can’t spend the Apple Tax fund overnight
NoKaleidoscope2477 on
I’m betting they’ve come up with a way of just funnelling it back to Apple on the sly.
Expert-Fig-5590 on
Build something that will be used for years. Build a Metro for Dublin and a western rail corridor from Cork to Letterkenny via Galway. Two high speed lines from Cork Dublin and Galway Dublin. That would alleviate the house price problem in the major cities if commuting was easier.
its_brew on
How about TWO spires
LimerickJim on
Hear me out: soverign wealth fund.
I’d like it if we could turn the money into houses but if we announce a bunch of building plans we’ll just be outbidding ourselves for the limited construction man power we have.
If we have an investment fund of €14 billion that returned a conservative 3% a year we could generate €420 million a year and increase the infrastructure building by that ammount. It’ll make a functional difference without fueling runaway inflation.
lace_chaps on
This little euro goes on bike sheds, this little euro goes on HAP, this little euro goes on consultants and this little euro goes on debt. However these little euro must rest in the account.
here2dare on
This is a pretty bad look for the government. They’ve been humiliated already by the highest court in Europe. They’ve spent millions of taxpayers money arguing that the tax wasn’t ours.
And now, on the day of the ruling against them they are basically arguing further that it’s not our money and they can’t spend it as they wish. Going against every single legal opinion I’ve seen so far
blowins on
You’d get a decent chunk of subway and high speed rail outta that! Build for the future and all that
A-Hind-D on
Joints it is
Chester_roaster on
That’s just common sense
davesr25 on
Give it to everyone.
Every person gets a bit.
They’ll spend it, it will be put back in to the economy.
😉
Captain_Vomit1 on
Public will never see this money being used on public things.
High_Flyer87 on
My trust in our ruling parties is currently the lowest that it has ever been and I include going back to the 2008 financial crisis under Fianna Fail Governance in that.
Seeing the widespread mismanagement and misuse of public funds at the minute, I do not believe this money will end up in hands where it will benefit the Irish people as a whole. I think it will be siphoned off into different budgets and find it’s way to connected people.
That’s just how I feel about it. The children’s hospital budget overrun and huge hotel contracts being handed out to small few decimating tourism and local businesses some examples amongst many.
We need widescale housing supply, a metro, we need prisons, we need more hospitals, we need a better equipped police force for many years and the Goverment do not give a damn about any of that.
BadDub on
Spend it on a United Ireland 🥹
Odd_Specialist_8687 on
pay off some of the national debt
irelephant_T_T on
The photoshop on the apple is fooling no one.
Apprehensive_Ratio80 on
Infrastructure, infrastructure, INFRASTRUCTURE!!
And before anyone highlights our national debt this would barely make a dent in that and we urgently need a lot more things ALL across the country and not just in one city (cough cough Dublin). This is a once off payment let’s I don’t know 🤷🏻♂️ upgrade the entire rail network of the country or give something to each major city to improve transportation or to each university to make them world class facilities or something for every hospital to cope with rising costs and demand and lack of housing for staff!
Fuckin build amazing forestsnin each province. Just please please please Irish government don’t piss away this opportunity on something frivolous because you want to get more votes
This issue has been in the courts for years so I hope at the least someone made a plan for just in case this turned out this way
BlurstEpisode on
Spend it on energy independence. We’ll make it all back fast.
JustAdam84 on
Give everyone 200million , everyone happy forever !!
gottagetthatfun24 on
Spend it on defence. God knows we need more investment in the army aircorps and navy
xlogo65 on
Bertie Ahern presidential campaign 😑
MaxiStavros on
Massive super prison for scrotes. No conviction required, just if you are one in you go. Each cell has a ps5 and a copy of GTA 6, and one takeaway meal per day, cans on a Friday night – they can live in luxury I don’t care once they’re off the streets. Imagine an Ireland without scrotes everywhere. Bliss. Costly yes, but frees up some accommodation for the rest of us.
Any-Shower5499 on
And it shouldn’t be used for day to day spending. It should be used for either capital expenditure (I.e. a one off cost, a one-off income matched a one off cost) or it should be invested to generate a return, or used to pay off some of our national debt (effectively generating a return equal to the interest we would otherwise pay)
shezmax on
Start CPO’ing shit and build build build. Preferably a metro but lots of spare change to go around
Objective-Age-5670 on
This government didn’t even want Apple to pay this. It’s the EU that forced them. Remember that when we’re all wondering where this money went to in a few years time.
They’re jokes. Very reminiscent of the bailout for the banks. Only ever thinking of their money train.
punkerster101 on
Buy back the north for the craic
Flashy_Body6271 on
Dail bar refurb it is then
CloudStreet on
eggsbenedict17 on
Apple = seed
Seed the sovereign wealth fund cowards
bakchod007 on
How confident are we that Apple be paying us all of that?
jesusthatsgreat on
It would currently buy 267,788k BTC
Old-Ad5508 on
Let’s start our own space agency. Spaceeirex
RedPandaDan on
Either sovereign fund or dump into into luas lines for Dublin and Cork, but plan it fast otherwise vested interests will vacuum it up.
dtoher on
If I had my way: the Google fine would go towards improving the electrical network (as it would benefit both the tech centres, so a sob to that sector, but is also of benefit to the nation).
The Apple funds could then be used to start a systematic long-term investment in Irish railways so that the expertise is built up and then maintained, making each subsequent project (relatively) cheaper.
Start with
1. Quad (minimum) tracking into Heuston from Newbridge.
2. Double tracking Dublin to Limerick; Dublin to Galway and Dublin to Waterford.
3. New main line towards Belfast (inland a bit, for some better resilience to coastal erosion)
4. Complete connection to Navan (ideally both to Navan from the N3 parkway and also to Drogheda for extra network resilience).
5. Quad track to Maynooth from a least Drumcondra, then route more trains to Grand Canal Dock.
6. Start on the proper electrification of the Irish railway network beyond the DART (not just with battery trains).
7. Sort out Limerick Junction to allow trains to move in all directions easily (ideally grade separated junctions). A split level station there would be amazing, but a much lower priority. This would again build more resilience into the network.
8. A freight and passenger connection in Westmeath to connect the two branches of the network heading west (this is probably a lot more viable than extending the western corridor).
9. Another connection between the Sligo line and the lines to the South and West, Hazelhatch and Celbridge to Leixlip would be great but probably too difficult.
10. More passing loops on other lines not mentioned above.
All upgrades should also be with a programme to remove level crossings from the Irish railway network.
I haven’t mentioned the Dart as capacity south of the Liffey is a mess. Essentially needs a complete rethink due to level crossings really impacting the frequency of trains possible.
A metro line further inland so that half it’s catchment area isn’t in the sea would probably be better in the long term.
Also, I have ideas about suitable underground metro systems for Dublin and Cork, but with the scale of what I have proposed above, I think we would need a few other EU rules to refill the coffers.
These would be automated with platform screen doors as is current best practice for metro systems. These metro systems would be accompanied by changes in planning rules to promote increased density within a .5km radius of the stations.
spungie on
Yes, we have 13 billion in cash. But no, we can’t spend it.
Because Apple paid us in fake 50s.
SugarInvestigator on
Flip flops foe everyone
And maybe a new bike shed
Forsaken_Hour6580 on
We need a new bike shed in work. That’s half the money gone right there
hullowurld91 on
Ok ok,, How about we put it all on Black.
You know what’s better than €14bn,,, €28bn!
momalloyd on
We are saving up for a new bike shed.
Beach_Glas1 on
The government have insisted for years that
money can’t be ringfenced for anything under the current tax system – saying it needs to go to the general exchequer and budgeted for.
This statement seems to contradict that. Which is it?
tallpaul89 on
I don’t trust the government to make a good decision in the use of these funds.
47 Comments
Fine Gael voter any minute now, absolutely terrified of public spending: IT’S NOT OUR MONEY TO SPEND. IRELAND IS ONLY ENTITLED TO 1% OF THE 13 BILLION.
Ok, that’s fine. Let’s spend it on critical infrastructure. Some houses, the Dublin metro, some schools and the Cork-Limerick motorway would be great.
No bother. Spend it on one-off capital projects.
Subtle way of letting us know we won’t see one cent of that in our pockets and it will be pissed away by their good selves on god knows what. They could do so much good with that money if used wisely.
Monorail time
Build houses you cunts
We can’t spend the Apple Tax fund overnight
I’m betting they’ve come up with a way of just funnelling it back to Apple on the sly.
Build something that will be used for years. Build a Metro for Dublin and a western rail corridor from Cork to Letterkenny via Galway. Two high speed lines from Cork Dublin and Galway Dublin. That would alleviate the house price problem in the major cities if commuting was easier.
How about TWO spires
Hear me out: soverign wealth fund.
I’d like it if we could turn the money into houses but if we announce a bunch of building plans we’ll just be outbidding ourselves for the limited construction man power we have.
If we have an investment fund of €14 billion that returned a conservative 3% a year we could generate €420 million a year and increase the infrastructure building by that ammount. It’ll make a functional difference without fueling runaway inflation.
This little euro goes on bike sheds, this little euro goes on HAP, this little euro goes on consultants and this little euro goes on debt. However these little euro must rest in the account.
This is a pretty bad look for the government. They’ve been humiliated already by the highest court in Europe. They’ve spent millions of taxpayers money arguing that the tax wasn’t ours.
And now, on the day of the ruling against them they are basically arguing further that it’s not our money and they can’t spend it as they wish. Going against every single legal opinion I’ve seen so far
You’d get a decent chunk of subway and high speed rail outta that! Build for the future and all that
Joints it is
That’s just common sense
Give it to everyone.
Every person gets a bit.
They’ll spend it, it will be put back in to the economy.
😉
Public will never see this money being used on public things.
My trust in our ruling parties is currently the lowest that it has ever been and I include going back to the 2008 financial crisis under Fianna Fail Governance in that.
Seeing the widespread mismanagement and misuse of public funds at the minute, I do not believe this money will end up in hands where it will benefit the Irish people as a whole. I think it will be siphoned off into different budgets and find it’s way to connected people.
That’s just how I feel about it. The children’s hospital budget overrun and huge hotel contracts being handed out to small few decimating tourism and local businesses some examples amongst many.
We need widescale housing supply, a metro, we need prisons, we need more hospitals, we need a better equipped police force for many years and the Goverment do not give a damn about any of that.
Spend it on a United Ireland 🥹
pay off some of the national debt
The photoshop on the apple is fooling no one.
Infrastructure, infrastructure, INFRASTRUCTURE!!
And before anyone highlights our national debt this would barely make a dent in that and we urgently need a lot more things ALL across the country and not just in one city (cough cough Dublin). This is a once off payment let’s I don’t know 🤷🏻♂️ upgrade the entire rail network of the country or give something to each major city to improve transportation or to each university to make them world class facilities or something for every hospital to cope with rising costs and demand and lack of housing for staff!
Fuckin build amazing forestsnin each province. Just please please please Irish government don’t piss away this opportunity on something frivolous because you want to get more votes
This issue has been in the courts for years so I hope at the least someone made a plan for just in case this turned out this way
Spend it on energy independence. We’ll make it all back fast.
Give everyone 200million , everyone happy forever !!
Spend it on defence. God knows we need more investment in the army aircorps and navy
Bertie Ahern presidential campaign 😑
Massive super prison for scrotes. No conviction required, just if you are one in you go. Each cell has a ps5 and a copy of GTA 6, and one takeaway meal per day, cans on a Friday night – they can live in luxury I don’t care once they’re off the streets. Imagine an Ireland without scrotes everywhere. Bliss. Costly yes, but frees up some accommodation for the rest of us.
And it shouldn’t be used for day to day spending. It should be used for either capital expenditure (I.e. a one off cost, a one-off income matched a one off cost) or it should be invested to generate a return, or used to pay off some of our national debt (effectively generating a return equal to the interest we would otherwise pay)
Start CPO’ing shit and build build build. Preferably a metro but lots of spare change to go around
This government didn’t even want Apple to pay this. It’s the EU that forced them. Remember that when we’re all wondering where this money went to in a few years time.
They’re jokes. Very reminiscent of the bailout for the banks. Only ever thinking of their money train.
Buy back the north for the craic
Dail bar refurb it is then
Apple = seed
Seed the sovereign wealth fund cowards
How confident are we that Apple be paying us all of that?
It would currently buy 267,788k BTC
Let’s start our own space agency. Spaceeirex
Either sovereign fund or dump into into luas lines for Dublin and Cork, but plan it fast otherwise vested interests will vacuum it up.
If I had my way: the Google fine would go towards improving the electrical network (as it would benefit both the tech centres, so a sob to that sector, but is also of benefit to the nation).
The Apple funds could then be used to start a systematic long-term investment in Irish railways so that the expertise is built up and then maintained, making each subsequent project (relatively) cheaper.
Start with
1. Quad (minimum) tracking into Heuston from Newbridge.
2. Double tracking Dublin to Limerick; Dublin to Galway and Dublin to Waterford.
3. New main line towards Belfast (inland a bit, for some better resilience to coastal erosion)
4. Complete connection to Navan (ideally both to Navan from the N3 parkway and also to Drogheda for extra network resilience).
5. Quad track to Maynooth from a least Drumcondra, then route more trains to Grand Canal Dock.
6. Start on the proper electrification of the Irish railway network beyond the DART (not just with battery trains).
7. Sort out Limerick Junction to allow trains to move in all directions easily (ideally grade separated junctions). A split level station there would be amazing, but a much lower priority. This would again build more resilience into the network.
8. A freight and passenger connection in Westmeath to connect the two branches of the network heading west (this is probably a lot more viable than extending the western corridor).
9. Another connection between the Sligo line and the lines to the South and West, Hazelhatch and Celbridge to Leixlip would be great but probably too difficult.
10. More passing loops on other lines not mentioned above.
All upgrades should also be with a programme to remove level crossings from the Irish railway network.
I haven’t mentioned the Dart as capacity south of the Liffey is a mess. Essentially needs a complete rethink due to level crossings really impacting the frequency of trains possible.
A metro line further inland so that half it’s catchment area isn’t in the sea would probably be better in the long term.
Also, I have ideas about suitable underground metro systems for Dublin and Cork, but with the scale of what I have proposed above, I think we would need a few other EU rules to refill the coffers.
These would be automated with platform screen doors as is current best practice for metro systems. These metro systems would be accompanied by changes in planning rules to promote increased density within a .5km radius of the stations.
Yes, we have 13 billion in cash. But no, we can’t spend it.
Because Apple paid us in fake 50s.
Flip flops foe everyone
And maybe a new bike shed
We need a new bike shed in work. That’s half the money gone right there
Ok ok,, How about we put it all on Black.
You know what’s better than €14bn,,, €28bn!
We are saving up for a new bike shed.
The government have insisted for years that
money can’t be ringfenced for anything under the current tax system – saying it needs to go to the general exchequer and budgeted for.
This statement seems to contradict that. Which is it?
I don’t trust the government to make a good decision in the use of these funds.