The 7th Young Fine Gael Summer School

Rip off Ireland – Affecting our Youth.

Introduction:
As Young Ireland, we all know that our country is an expensive place to live, we know that everyday we face, what appear to be huge costs for the simplest of life’s commodities, but are we really being ripped off? How do we compare with our European counterparts? Is Ireland really an expensive place for us as Young Irelander's to live?

To answer these questions we looked at a number of bills/expenses/expenditures faced by us as young people on a daily basis, be it the 18 year old who goes into the local record shop to pick up the latest CD, be it the newly qualified college graduate, be it the first time home buyer, how expensive is Ireland to live in when compared to our European counterparts.

Some Stats:

• For the last 7 years, Ireland ’s consumer price inflation rate has exceeded the Eurozone and EU15 average.
• By 2003, Ireland was virtually on a par with Finland (Eurozone’s most expensive country) for consumer goods and service costs.
• In the five years to January 2004, decisions by Government, its agencies and regulators added 7.9% to the total inflation rate.

Now let’s look at this in more detail:

Tax Burden:
In 2003, the Irish tax burden rose from 29.8% to 31.2%, the second highest rise in the EU ( Cyprus , higher, 32.5% to 34.3%)

Food, Beverages and Tobacco.
When the price level indices are examined and the EU25 average calculated as 100%, Ireland finds itself almost half as expensive again as the EU25 average coming in at 144%. What does this mean to you and me, well it simply means that every time we go and do our average shopping (excluding alcohol) we are paying 144% of the EU average.

Cost of food in a little more detail:
When we refine our shopping basket to simply food items and compare the same shopping list between the average low priced supermarkets across Europe , Ireland is the most expensive country in which one could do their weekly shopping.

Rent:
Dublin rents rose by 1% in 2004 as compared with a decline of 3.8% in Madrid and 3.5% in Paris for the same time span. But in real terms what does this mean? For a one bedroom apartment in Dublin , the average cost is 840 Euros and can be up to 1,018 depending on your chosen address. Compare this with Barcelona, for the same size accommodation, you can expect to pay 592 euros and could in fact rent a one bedroom apartment from as little as 495 per month.

Buying your first home:
When purchasing your first home in Ireland , remember that 28% of the cost is going directly in TAX to the Government. But let’s look at this in terms of how much a young Irish person should expect to pay for their first home.

And remember, since Brian Cowan T.D.’s budget of December 2004, stamp duty kicks in on any house above 317,501 euro.

For young people who cannot even consider attempting to purchase in Dublin and see the commuter counties as their only option, prices are still at an all time high.

Average cost of a home in the commuter counties of Louth, Meath, Kildare and Wicklow are as follows:

Again we can see an annual increase occurring.

Petrol/diesel:
How much does it cost us to run our cars? Well looking at the basics of petrol and diesel, the average cost of a litre of petrol and diesel as of July 19 th 2005 is 105.3 and 105.0 euro respectively. Now should you decide to take your holidays in Europe this year, and pull into a filling station in Austria, Spain, Luxembourg, or Greece, you can fill up with petrol for less that you would here in Ireland. And if you’re lucky enough to be driving a diesel car, you can get cheaper diesel in Austria, Finland, Greece, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Spain, Portugal and France.

Electricity costs in Ireland :
Ireland has the highest pre tax costs of electricity in Europe . Every Kwh of electricity you and I use, we pay 9.81 cents pre tax, the highest in Europe when compared to our British counterparts who pay 6.40 per kwh. There are also treats to double the installation costs fro first time connection to the grid….and who is that going to affect, yes, the first time buyer.

Also, this high rate of electricity costs is affecting Irish competitiveness, affecting foreign investor’s decisions to locate here and hence affecting the jobs prospects for Young Ireland.

Mobile Phone Usage:
Mobile phones have become an everyday commodity of our lives, but how much are these costing us as compared with our fellow young Europeans? The Commission for Communication’s Regulation in Sept 2004 stated that Ireland is more expensive than the EU average in terms of mobile call charges. Irish mobile charges for post paid phones are ranked 9 th in the EU15 for low users but for high users we are ranked 13 th out of 15. Pre paid users are somewhat better off, with Irish pre paid users ranking 4 th out of the EU15.

Land Line Rental:
The cost of phone line rental again highlights the increased cost of living experienced by Ireland ’s citizens. Have a look at the table below:

Cost of a CD
Here in Ireland you can expect to pay out 19.99 Euros for your favorite CD, in Paris , 19.00 and buy the same CD in London for 17.88,

Cup of coffee (incl. table service)
In Dublin a cup of coffee with table service costs an average of 2.87 euros, in London , you will pay 2.58, in Amsterdam 2.38, in Rome 2.27 and in Paris , 2.18.

Highest rates of Inflation:
Goods and services with the highest rates of inflation in the 5 years leading up to 2004 were as follows:

• Water Supply and Refuse Charges Up 25.4%

(These charges are incurred by us young Irish when we go to rent property or indeed when we ourselves are attempting to set ourselves established in our first homes )

• Postal Services Up 13.5%
• Hospital Services Up 11.1%
• Second Level Education Up 10.3%
• Outpatient Services Up 7.2%

And the major question we must ask here is; Are we really getting value for our money?

Quality of life in Dublin , Ireland
Although it may be considered to be the chosen city for so many of Ireland ’s youth to live, Dublin does not fair well when it comes to quality of life ranking. An analysis of city life with 39 criteria including political, social, economic, and environmental factors, personal safety and health, education, transport, and other public services was carried out by Mercer International. Dublin was placed 22 nd with other European cities such as Luxembourg , Berlin , Munich and Frankfurt all ranking ahead of our capital city.

Some unanswered questions???????

So what is Young Ireland paying so dearly for?

Here we have just a sample of Rip off culture in Ireland .

Why do we face rip off around every corner?

Why, in the aftermath of some of our most prosperous years post Celtic tiger are we now faced with huge costs of living in our daily lives?  

Does this government now have some huge questions to answer Irelands Youth?