Thurles Information

“Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedies”.

[Above quote by British publisher & political publicist Sir Ernest John Pickstone Benn.]

Some 1,433 persons left the live register during September 2016, per figures published in a Statistical Release on the 6th of this month, October 2016, by the Central Statistics Office (CSO). Some 649 left the Live Register in North Tipperary, while 784 persons vacated same in South Tipperary.

However, please let all our 1000 (+) daily readers refrain from ‘jumping for joy’, at this time, as no new Foreign Direct Investment or indeed any other sizeable form of decent employment has darkened our borders; despite the promises of the outgoing former Fine Gael / Labour coalition government, prior to the General Election held on February 26th 2016 last.

I am informed by the CSO that this sudden drop in Social Welfare claimants is merely down to normal reductions expected in September figures, brought about by students returning to education, etc.

In the hope of finding out more information on this September statistics reduction, an e-mail query has been forwarded to the Labour Market Section, at labour@cso.ie. Should I receive a reply, you our readers will be first to be informed.

One major tax concession in Tuesday’s ‘non event leaked budget’  is most certainly not expected to permeate the picturesque borders of Co. Tipperary in the immediate future. I refer of course to the concession directed at first-time new house buyers and the tax refund of up to €20,000 on those buying newly built homes, valued at up to €600,000. (Much of this concession paid for out of taxes taken from minimum paid workers who will not ever be able to buy a house.)

To take advantage of this major tax concession of course such young people will first need to hold a job. With 18 to 24-year-olds only getting an additional €2.70 per week, bringing their personal weekly rate of unemployment benefit to €102.70 per week; whatever about our cities, I don’t expect to see a huge surge in newly built houses in Co. Tipperary.

Twenty five year old persons benefited to the tune of €3.80 in their personal rate in Tuesday’s budget, bringing their payments to €127.80. Even twenty-five-year-olds will have difficulty in simply affording /attending a job interview in Dublin, where all the jobs are available; with the cost of a return train fare in excess of €50, (Note Dublin to Thurles, return, presently costs €53).

Perhaps a reduction in builders VAT Rates and a public transport concession for those seeking employment would have been a more appropriate answer to the problems of first time house buyers and major unemployment, latter up 120% over the past 10 years in Co. Tipperary.