How can Ireland, as a country, have spent so much money with so little to show for it? That question, near the top of David McWilliams’s column this weekend, illustrates what he identifies as the State’s major macroeconomic problem: demand is surging, but supply is not responding.
“There aren’t enough houses, transport infrastructure lags behind other wealthy countries, hospitals are overcrowded and, in many places, private opulence exists side by side with public squalor. This is what happens when you don’t focus on supply,” he writes.
On housing and public infrastructure, McWilliams outlines what the next government must do to ensure supply is healthy: radically reduce the impediments to development. This means “altering the way we build, the way we plan and the way we balance the rights of objectors with the responsibility to society as a whole.”
Some of the topics discussed by McWilliams are no doubt the concern of Simon Harris, who gives his first big interview as Taoiseach to Political Editor Pat Leahy in The Irish Times this weekend. In a wide-ranging discussion, the Taoiseach hints at his “big ideas” on childcare, housing and infrastructural projects.
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Looking ahead to the October 1st budget, his first and this Coalition’s last, Mr Harris gives his clearest indication yet of plans for a giveaway budget. There will be tax reductions, permanent spending increases, including in social welfare rates, and there will be package of “one-off” (for the third year in a row) giveaways – “all of which,” he adds, “will be delivered this year”. This, he says, is necessary due to acute cost-of-living pressures.
For her latest venture into Ireland’s culinary scene, Corinna Hardgrave visited Coppinger, a re-boot of an older Dublin favourite Coppinger Row, which our critic says is even better than the original: “Not all the dishes hit the mark, but they are tasty and a welcome reprise from the formulaic predictability of the bigger operators. Once again, they are launching a restaurant at a time when the industry is going through a bit of a shake-up. It perhaps reflects how its original customers have moved on since it first opened as party central.” It’s four stars from Hardgrave.
Our advice columnists this week address their latest reader queries: for Trish Murphy, that comes in the form of a parent whose daughter’s 15-year-old friend is experiencing trouble with an online relationship, which is causing her to be fearful. Meanwhile, Roe McDermott’s topic this weekend centres on a person who has left a relationship they have recognised was abusive. The reader now wants to know if they should try to find out more about their abusive ex’s past: “Would it ease my pain to know for sure that he has a history of abusing women?”
In the Sport section this weekend, Denis Walsh interviews Lukasz Kirszenstein. Last month, writes Walsh, Kirszenstein was the strength and conditioning coach for the All-Ireland hurling champions for the third time in eight years: Tipperary in 2016, Galway a year later and now Clare. That’s a feat nobody else has achieved with three different counties.
In this week’s On the Money newsletter, Joanne Hunt is looking at bank data and how that information can help customers, even telling you when bills are due and whether you’re at risk of ending up in the red. Sign up here to receive the newsletter straight to your inbox every Friday.
As always, there is much more on irishtimes.com, including rundowns of all the latest movies in our film reviews, tips for the best restaurants in our food section and all the latest in sport. There are plenty more articles exclusively available for Irish Times subscribers here.
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