Dear Santa,

With just 10 sleeps to go before the big day, excitement is slowly starting to build as we look forward to your arrival.

We have been good boys and girls all year.

We understand that you don’t have as many presents to go around compared to the treasure chest of Celtic Tiger times, however we hope that things have improved enough that you will reward us for our good behaviour and commitment to the cause over many difficult years.

We have put together a list of things that we would really like to get, however we understand that you will not be able to deliver everything on the list this year. Hopefully you will keep the list safe and work hard over the next couple of years to bring us what we are asking for.

If we were being very greedy the wish list would be a lot longer however we understand that you are not a miracle worker and so we have kept our expectations in check.

Taxation

• Reduce the marginal tax rate for all workers
• Increase the entry point at which workers move to the higher rate of tax
• Simplify the system and merge USC and PRSI
• Continue to close the gap between self-employed and PAYE workers
• Reinstate the reduced rate of Employer PRSI for workers earning below €350 per week
• Reduce DIRT on savings to 23%
• Increase inheritance tax thresholds and legislate now for future increases
• Simplify the rules for SMEs to avail of Research & Development credits
• Review the Employment & Investment Incentive Scheme (EIIS) to allow more companies to access funding and to stimulate employment

Competitiveness

• Retain 9% VAT rate in the hospitality and tourism sector which is more critical than ever in the face of Brexit
• Reaffirm our hard-line stance in relation to our 12.5% rate of Corporation Tax
• Maintain sovereignty in taxation policy against EU level discussions regarding a Consolidated Corporate Tax Base
• Encourage & Reward Entrepreneurship by reducing the impact of Capital Gains Tax by moving towards the UK model where gains are taxed at 10% up to a lifetime limit of €10m

 Housing

• Implement a short-term reduction in the rate of VAT as a stimulus for house building
• Introduce limited duration tax incentives in qualifying areas (e.g. derelict town and city centre properties) to improve the supply of quality rental accommodation and the reintroduction of long-term landlords to the housing market
• Increase public investment in social housing

Pensions

• Increase the weekly rate of the old age contributory pension
• Introduce an auto-enrolment pension scheme to address the pensions time bomb

Childcare

• Continue to increase funding in line with last year’s budget with a focus on high quality affordable childcare facilities

Cork Specific:

• Give the go ahead for the M20 Cork-Limerick, the M28 to Ringaskiddy, the Dunkettle Interchange and the Cork Northern Ring Road
• Invest in intercity rail tracks to reduce journey time between Cork and Dublin
• Provide additional funding for the Cork Events Centre

P.S We will send another letter after the Big Day to let everybody know what Santa brought for Christmas