Personal views 

Dublin
Joined April 2016
Nat O'Connor retweeted
I'm looking forward to speaking tomorrow about how Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is a public policy challenge for Ireland. People living with FASD need supports. 1pm Tuesday 27 October 2026. @ucdgearyinst UCD Geary Institute for Public Policy. Free event. All welcome.
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I'm looking forward to speaking tomorrow about how Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is a public policy challenge for Ireland. People living with FASD need supports. 1pm Tuesday 27 October 2026. @ucdgearyinst UCD Geary Institute for Public Policy. Free event. All welcome.
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It’s actually worse, as other reports point out that a lot of income tax, USC, PRSI and VAT is also coming from just a few multinationals. While it isn’t as “transient” as the corporation tax, the overall level of risk to the public finances is enormous. rte.ie/news/analysis-and-com…
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The Fiscal Council has just published its Flash Release on Budget 2027. Here are the key takeaways: Budget 2027 puts the public finances on a worse trajectory by repeatedly breaking established spending limits and increasingly relying on high-risk corporation tax.
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1/4 Two releases came out today. The “White Paper” gives an updated glimpse of the fiscal situation before next Tuesday’s Budget package, but is thin on spending detail. We also have updated tax and spending numbers to September.
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Keire Murphy and @Aidan_Regan's new podcast discusses how Ireland can deliver the quality of life that people hope for. They discuss the problems, solutions and the politics. You can find it as a podcast (e.g. shows.acast.com/get-shit-don…) and on YouTube (youtube.com/@GetShtDonePod).
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I was interviewed by Keire to talk about a few things, starting with local democracy in episode three. You can join the conversation here (video): youtube.com/watch?v=Fds-YBIB… Or here (audio): shows.acast.com/get-shit-don…
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I’m honoured to speak in a panel discussion this evening at the launch of TASC’s annual report on equality in Ireland. It’s particularly special as TASC is 25 this year. Sadly, while the economy is expanding, Ireland still has entrenched inequalities that haven’t gone away.
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1/4 August’s update shows taxes growing strongly. But spending is also rising faster than planned, and Department of Health overruns are mounting.
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1/11 The Fiscal Council’s latest report warns that Budget 2027 is set to be larger than appropriate for a strong economy. Spending overruns could make the package even bigger than announced on budget day, increasing Ireland’s reliance on risky corporation tax receipts.
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Nat O'Connor retweeted
16 Sept at 15:30 - online NERI seminar presented by Enda Keenan @centralbank_ie Title: 'The Irish Labour Market - recent developments & future growth'. Chaired by @ciarannugent Details & registration - nerinstitute.net/events/2026…
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1/6 The council has a new blog post out today. It shows that Ireland’s public finances are becoming increasingly reliant on foreign-owned multinationals, not just for corporation tax but for other taxes too.
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The other side of this story is that forcing people to retire is illegal in Canada, Australia, NZ, USA and UK. The minimum age is 70+ in France, Norway, etc. Ireland’s new law is still ageist. It forces able workers to lose income. @rtenews @owenreidy rte.ie/news/2026/0622/157959…
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Although Irish alcohol consumption has decreased since 2000, it's still double the world average. Labels on alcohol of the cancer risk warning and zero alcohol during pregnancy message have been postponed following industry lobbying. So this is timely... rte.ie/news/health/2026/0617…
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I look forward to be speaking at the @ire_solar conference on 18th June, where I will be focusing on the challenges of ensuring everyone can access affordable energy, including older persons and people on lower incomes.
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📰 “Failure and Learning in Policy Innovation” is a new paper by Philipp Trein, University of Lausanne, published as part of a new Policy Innovation Ideas series on PublicPolicy.ie. This paper argues that policy failure frequently serves as a precondition for innovation in the public sector, due to voter myopia, blame avoidance, and the ill-structured nature of policy problems. Drawing on the Innovator's Dilemma framework and Switzerland's Electronic Health Record case, it shows how failure creates the political conditions necessary for reform. publicpolicy.ie/policy-innov… #innovation #policy
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‘Stay in Control of your money’ – that’s the message of a new awareness drive to increase understanding of financial abuse. The initiative led by Safeguarding Ireland aims to highlight the many things which people can do to ‘stay in control’. View the resources at: safeguardingireland.org/stay…
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