"In todays newspaper we will show you how much more money the 2016 budget means for your pocket!"
This struck me as being the least interesting and petty subject for a newspaper to waste space on.
Before I go on I'll make an assumption:
"The great majority of people are not going to feel any significant difference with the new budget"
In other words I don't think they'd know the cash wasn't there if they hadn't been told...
If the most important thing to think about after a new budget is out is how much difference it makes on your wallet, then frankly, you should go play on the motorway blindfolded (and please don't vote).
The budget is our chance to prioritise what we think is important in the country, by the nature of a national budget it is our money being put to use, and our interest is that it gets put to the best possible use!
Wanting more cash for yourself is fine with me, but if a change to the budget means 100€ extra in your wallet and 460,000,000€ less in the state's pocket (4.6m people in ROI), then I'd rather see what the state can do with that money.
- Teachers are paid 30,000-60,000€ (source), so we could hire 7,500-15,000 new teachers to lift the education. A good investment in the future...?
- Gardai are paind 25,000-45,000€ (source), equating 10,000-18,400 more gardai (not counting cars and kit, but you get the picture).
- Get 4600GWh ~ 850,000 households worth of solar electricity (based on 5,300kWh per year per household, source). this can only be achieved with centralised solar plants, as the price per kWh is higher for small installations (source).
So what I'm saying is that I think the least interesting thing about the budget is what it means to my wallet. I'll not go hungry, cold or wet because of those changes, but my kids might, if we don't budget wisely, and focus on petty cash
So dear major Irish newspaper, please print some meaningful news, about real issues...!
