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EMPLOYERS GROUP IBEC has called on the Government to seek EU permission to spend €1 billion on social housing.
The recommendation was contained in the group’s proposals for how the government should react to Brexit in the October budget.
Multinationals are increasingly viewing the homelessness crisis in Ireland as an obstacle to economic growth. Intel and Apple recently called on the government to address the lack of housing for staff.
In May, a report from government body the Housing Agency revealed that there are around 230,000 vacant houses around the country, most of them in private ownership.
Charities that work with homeless people have called on the government to issue compulsory purchase orders for some of these properties, to house the country’s almost 6,000 homeless people.
Moreover, there over 2,751 housing units in local authority ownership lying vacant, according to new statistics released under Freedom of Information legislation.
Action plan
Minister Simon Coveney is due to announce a housing action plan before the end of July, while Fianna Fáil have called for further local authority funding to refurbish units already owned by the state.
In a statement this morning, Ibec said that spiralling housing costs are placing too big a financial burden on working families.
The group added:
They are making Ireland a less attractive place to live and work and are adding to wage pressures.
“Ireland needs between 35,0000 to 40,000 new homes each year, of which around 11,250 should be within the four Dublin local authorities.
Last year, only 2,800 new units were built in Dublin.
Ibec have called on the government to seek a derogation from the European Commission rules, on social grounds, and spend €1 billion on social housing, outside of their current fiscal framework.
The business lobby group also called for greater investment in transport, education, housing and broadband infrastructure.
“We have the fastest growing population in Europe, but the third lowest level of investment in the EU,” the statement added.
They want the government to attract businesses and staff from the UK by raising by €1,000 a year the threshold at which staff here are taxed at the higher 40% rate.
They have also called for more tax breaks for entrepreneurs.
Ibec director of policy Fergal O’Brien said:
“We have an opportunity to re-position post-crisis post-Brexit Ireland as a nimble, dynamic, pro-business and pro-entrepreneurship economy.
If we get it right, we’ll reap the rewards in terms of new jobs, quality investment, better public services and improved living standards.
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But if Apple developed a car would it have windows??!
Windows would be called i-screens
Hope they use those Tesla engineers to create a phone battery that lasts more than 8 hours first.
I recently got two full days from my iPhone 6′s battery.
It was turned off
I hope they don’t use apple maps
Use your iphone to open your car,
Great, so now when someone robs your phone they get your car too…..
How do you “rob” a phone? Cut it open and steal the components?
I’ll get your coat Jake.
As long as you don’t rob it. There is stuff in the pockets!
We should never invent anything new in case it gets stolen.
Someone stole the Internet once.
People will steal anything.
“They” steal everything that’s not nailed down, and if it’s nailed down, “they” steal the nails as well
If Google make their own car they could call it Google Drive…
;D
They could make it a van and stuff it full of documents.
That wasn’t funny. Had to thumb it down myself.
Well at least you had the good sense to thumb it down.
OMG… What a dreadful thought. I honestly can’t think of anything worse for more reasons than I can express. I can see Apple suing Ford for also having a vehicle with a wheel at each corner and Toyota for having Glass in the windows… And can you imagine an iCar that will only let you drive it to where Apple thinks you should go, only lets you put Apple fuel in it, and force feeds you scrappy U2 music at random… And don’t even get get me started on the truly woeful navigation system it will all run on…. We’re doomed.
fantastic company
Used to be but as they discovered before. No jobs no chance
The iCar chooses your destination for you from a list of Apple-approved destinations…
Someone should tell apple it is illegal to touch your phone whilst driving.
So on one hand we have a company that released all of its patents in order to facilitate the development of this technology, and on the other we have a company that aggressively buys up patent holding companies in order to bring massive lawsuits against its competitors in order the tighten it’s stranglehold on the market. Oh yeah. Super news…
the begrudgary here is top notch.
I was at the launch of the original iPod in ireland and listened to a lot of people in the room laugh afterwards and saying that apple shouldn’t get involved in the personal entertainment business etc. I can’t say that I was overly impressed with the iPod originally but it has changed the playing field massively.
but anyway ..the same predictable jokes about apple / android / samsung / microsoft must just get funnier the more the same people post them on every tech related story.
The Floor count of the United Nations Building.
Let them waste millions on the driverless cars.
Stupid idea. Literally accidents waiting to happen. Then they get sued.
Be better off focusing on jet packs instead.
Well I hope they don’t allow the car version of the OS to get as bloated and slow as iOS after each release.
Very frustrating on an iPad, but a potentially lethal irritation in a car.
Apple using Tesla people to try out their software in cars. Only a matter of time before they do “iCars”. Before iPhone they tested out iTunes on Motorola phones and that was a success , hence iPhone.
have your say