Thurles Information

Despite the austere ‘Budget 2013,’ measures introduced on December 5th 2012 last, the search for gaining other ways of imposing further taxes on the Irish nation continues unabated.

Children’s Allowance May Be Taxed

Joan Burton, Minister for Social Protection, has suggested this week that taxing Child Benefit is now a possibility & the fairest way to make reforms to monthly payment to some 600,000 Irish families.

The Ministers expert Government Commission Group is understood to be recommending that these payments be taxed or a two tier system be now put in place regarding these payments.

This report from the ‘Advisory Group on Tax and Social Welfare,’ will be brought before the Cabinet for discussion on Tuesday next.

While this Government’s Commission Group Report does strangely acknowledge the necessity to retain this family support for the rich, by keeping these universal payments in place, the Minister will now undertake to decide how to achieve the best outcome. Meanwhile children whose bread winners are unemployed & other low income families must now await the outcome of Tuesday’s Cabinet decision.

These latter individuals are those who in an effort to make ends meet, were forced in recent months, to gorge their bellies on incorrectly labelled Beef Bolognese Sauce, Cottage Pies, Beef Lasagne’s & Burgers, same containing 100% Horse meat, Pig DNA & other foreign frozen assorted beef trimmings, thus ensuring that some wealthy criminal factions in our midst, once again increased their company profits by deceit.

I can still hear my granny, speaking from the shadows, cast by the paraffin oil lamp, warning me, “It is far from Beef Bolognese Sauce & Beef Lasagne’s you were all reared. Take care that ye do not end up wearing an S.& A.G. Davis flour sack for a petticoat, in your not to distant futures.”

[Explanation: For those of you who were not around in the 1950’s, local shopkeepers, back then, were being continuously propositioned by low income families, to put aside any empty large S.& A.G. Davis bulk flour sacks, which were then manufactured by this same company, using light weight white linen material. This much sought after large linen sack was then recycled by enterprising rural women folk, mainly to make pillow cases & bed sheets, but also (& I whisper) young ladies undergarments. The difficulty, however, with these sacks when recycled, was that users could never remove that red dyed imprinted lettering, S.& A.G. Davis, latter which remained very clearly visible on any hand sewn garment, despite scrubbing & bleaching, thus causing some little embarrassment on occasion to a proud wearer.]

Still this decision on children’s allowance could mean the end of ‘Ballet Classes,’ for those on the upper income scale.

Further Property Stealth Taxes On The Way

Meanwhile, as irresponsible & criminal meat processors and dealers continue to tamper with the fruits of honest Tipperary farming folk, in order to steal an extra buck, yesterday’s Sunday Business Post reports that hard pressed house owners may again be hit with yet another charge, on top of Minister Phil Hogan’s patriotic €100 Household Charge & his soon to be imposed and much sought Property /Water charges.

It appears that County Councils and/or Local Authorities have the legal right to recoup the cost of unpaid development levies from burdened home owners. Development levies, you might vaguely remember, were charges forced on dodgy developers to cover the cost of connecting properties to essential public utilities, e.g. sewage & water, much of which was ignored or simply went unpaid by unscrupulous builders.

Wicklow County Council were first ‘out of the trap,’ last week in this venture, seeking payment of over €65,000, & have accordingly sent letters to home owners requesting payments of up to €4,800, which they are now legally entitled to pursue through the courts, if deemed necessary.

New Suggestion To Increase Government Revenue

I was just thinking the other day, is it not peculiar that this Government has not, as yet, introduced a licence on our Irish cat population, after all the family dog has been licensed for many years.  Then I suppose Minister Phil Hogan might interpret such licensing action as somewhat racist, him being a Kilkenny Cat, if you understand me.

On the issue of dog fouling, mentioned in the Sunday Independent yesterday, since our family dogs are fully paid up community tax contributors, surely they are well within their rights to cock their leg, on the odd occasion at least, near Kilkenny Golf Club, without Minister Hogan, his overpaid senior special advisers and a number of his wealthy constituents voicing grave concerns. His action after all forced an impoverished Kilkenny Co Council into erecting embarrassing dog sign-age, criticizing these unfortunate animals who after all are illiterate.

Phil, my old son, dog fouling is simple a matter of mathematics, plus add a shovel & a good yard brush, preferably with a connected handle, in the interests of H & S.

Now allow me to deal with the maths for you first. A dog is taken on his walk past your golf club play ground once a day & defecates during this one outing from home.  If he is taken on this same walk seven days in a row, expect him to defecate seven times and keep in mind that he may be a guide dog, which brings about separate issues for his handler. Do not assume that thousands of dogs are at large, deliberately converging daily on & targeting your favourite play ground. Solution is to put an advert in the paper seeking one skilled individual & stating, “Previous Shovel & Yard Brush Experience Essential,” & you will find that same skills are in abundance in your local area & available for interview – no more expensive signs now required, one dole payment less to be gratuitously handed out, PAYE & other taxes can be collected from his/her pay packet at source, local Kilkenny high street economy begins to grow etc. etc. etc..  Truth is Minister, everyone wins.

Personally I fear that this country is just slowly going to the cats.