Sir, – Dublin urgently needs experienced and skilled workers, while Northern Ireland needs houses for returning emigrants and those requiring social housing.
With a population of 1.9 million, there were only 1,400 houses built in the North last year.. However, a relatively modest investment in wastewater treatment infrastructure in the Newry-Banbridge-Armagh area would unlock the building of thousands of additional houses.
Across the world, large numbers of people successfully commute from lower-cost residential areas to higher-wage employment centres. For example, about 120,000 French residents live in France but work in Geneva.
In Ireland, with the introduction of an hourly train service between Belfast and Dublin, complemented by express bus services and the rise of hybrid working, cross-Border commuting to Dublin has become a practical and attractive option.
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Such commuters pay their income taxes in the Republicwhile spending a significant portion of their disposable income in Northern Ireland, where a new three-bedroom house can be purchased for €250,000. Why? Because new homes in the North incur no VAT (compared with 13.5 per cent in the Republic) and attract zero stamp duty for properties up to £500,000. The same three-bedroom house in Dublin 14 costs €750,000.
If the Dublin employer pays the train or bus ticket there is no benefit in kind resulting in a saving of 40 per cent on the price of a ticket.
The UK is spending more than £80 billion on the new London to Birmingham high-speed railway connection and the Republic is committing more than €9 billion to MetroLink. An interest-free loan for seven years of £300 million to the Stormont Executive would resolve the water waste capacity issue for the Newry-Banbridge-Armagh area, and would alleviate Dublin’s skills shortage, and at the same time provide excellent job opportunities for returning Irish emigrants.
Surely a win-win situation for both economies? A rising tide lifts all boats. – Yours, etc,
Paschal Taggart,
Rathgar,
Dublin 6.
