Govt ‘will have to stem flow of shoppers across border’

[ubiquitous]

ok, but do not forget those higher up too. Reducing minimum wage by 10% will not save very much. However, every business needs accouinants to do its books, annual returns etc. How about cutting their hourly rate by say 20 or 30 euro ? Also of course the public service pay rates should be reduced drastically....given the security + perks of such jobs, why should they be paid so much more than the private sector ?

A lot of changes, from the pay rate of the teeshock down, need to be implemented. We are the laughing stock of the world paying him more than the president of the US, Germany , France etc....all much much bigger , industrialised countries. Our other president costs a packet too - give her the average industrial wage, she has enough other perks.

I don't think any of us could disagree with any of the above proposals.

That said, any labour-intensive business that slashes the prices of its output without also reducing the cost of its input, ie labour, won't stay in business for long. And how many employees, with mortgages to pay and families to feed, will happily consent to pay cuts? That is the catch-22.

 

[orka]

how many employees, with mortgages to pay and families to feed, will happily consent to pay cuts?

The ones who will otherwise lose their jobs?

I'm sure if you asked anybody who has just been made redundant if they would take their old job back at 90% of the pay, they would say yes. Unfortunately, people often don't realise that that may be the stark choice and baulk at the thought of a pay cut.

 

[ubiquitous]

Unfortunately, people often don't realise that that may be the stark choice and baulk at the thought of a pay cut.

My point exactly.

 

[rabbit]

I would have thought many self employed people ( except perhaps people in professions like Doctors etc etc , or people self employed in vital services etc ) may have seen their take home pay reduce by 10% or more this year....not just the self employed building tradesperson , but the the solicitor, the auctioneer, the architect, the painter, the the person who sells cars, furniture, boats, luxury items, the shopkeeper next to the border, the person who used to make breakfast rolls etc etc. A lot of people I know wish they were only down 10%.

 

[Purple]

I would have thought many self employed people ( except perhaps people in professions like Doctors etc etc , or people self employed in vital services etc ) may have seen their take home pay reduce by 10% or more this year....not just the self employed building tradesperson , but the the solicitor, the auctioneer, the architect, the painter, the the person who sells cars, furniture, boats, luxury items, the shopkeeper next to the border, the person who used to make breakfast rolls etc etc. A lot of people I know wish they were only down 10%.

Agree completely.

 

[NorthDrum]

Maybe I am being completely idealistic here but is it fair to say that a person taking home 300k should be taking significantly higher decreases in salary in comparison to the person talking home 30k.

To say both should take 10% drop is not even remotely taking into consideration the effects that these paycuts will have on simple family pleasures like a mortgage ! ! Really these "universal" pay decreases are not fair in the overall context of how they effect those in differant salary bands, that is ultimately the main reason why nobody who is on the shorter end of the salary scale will feel obliged to take any paycut.

The problem is that no matter what happens, it will always be the working man that foots the bill or pays the hardest earned price, for mistakes that generally come from those in privelaged positions who got us there in the first place!!

 

[Upstihaggity]

I'm all for saving a few pennies by heading up north for shopping - then I read this ([broken link removed]) and am starting to wonder if its worth it if it makes the likes of Peter Robinson happy!!

 

[Guest128]

I still think its laughable that the government are using this "Patriotic" stance to get people to shop in the ROI. They seem to have forgotten the fact that Fianna Fáil was founded by Anti-Treaty activists, lead by Éamon de Valera, who did not want to break up our island. One of the main ideologies of FF was a united Ireland, yet when it suits them they now decide to drop the North and claim its unpatriotic to shop up there. I suggest they read up on their history.

 

[michaelm]

I still think its laughable that the government are using this "Patriotic" stance to get people to shop in the ROI.

I've never done a shopping run up North but soon I'll have to do so to buy lightbulbs and will probably fill my car with other goods while I'm there.

 

[Caveat]

I've never done a shopping run up North but soon I'll have to do so to buy light bulbs and will probably fill my car with other goods while I'm there.

Lightbulbs?!

I'm intrigued - is there some sort of cryptic message in there michaelm or is it a genuine intention to shop?

 

[Firefly]

Lightbulbs?!

I'm intrigued - is there some sort of cryptic message in there michaelm or is it a genuine intention to shop?

Yes, do throw some light on the topic

 

[michaelm]

I'm intrigued - is there some sort of cryptic message in there . .

Nothing cryptic . I have a mix of CFL and traditional bulbs in my house, where appropriate. A gormless environmental decision means that shortly I''ll only be able to get CFLs in this great little Republic of ours (are we the first country in the world to ban the lightbulb?) so I'll probably spin up to Newry when I need some and while there see what all the fuss is about re prices.

 

[Guest128]

are we the first country in the world to ban the lightbulb?.

We are trend settings, first the plastic bags, now this

 

[Mpsox]

So it's unpatriotic to go shopping in the North

Does that mean the Irish Govt will be stopping all the Northern cars coming down south to fill up with petrol, giving back the stamp duty paid and taxes paid by all the Northeners who own holiday homes in Donegal and telling Aer Lingus to move it's new base from Belfast back to Shannon.?

And they want us to be patriotic and shop at home and yet vote for Lisbon which exists to bring Europe closer together?

If anything, inane comments from our hypocritical Minister of Finance only encourages me to go North

 

[ubiquitous]

(are we the first country in the world to ban the lightbulb?)

We are trend settings, first the plastic bags, now this

And Gripe Water ...

And St John's Wort...

And (now) Bedsits...

And ...?

At this rate, we'll soon be banning things as often as we did in the 1950s. Come back Archbishop McQuaid, all is forgiven.

 

[elefantfresh]

Seems that there was an 11km tailback getting into Newry on Saturday. A woman on the radio said she got a computer up there for 300e which was 500e down here - hard to argue that sort of discount.
I think Supervalu or Superquinn were doing a "cheaper than Newry" weekend. Seems like they're able to drop some prices when it suits them.

 

[csirl]

Playing devils advocate about shopping up north:

1. People are not going there due to the VAT rate - not worth the trip for the majority of people for a small saving in VAT.

2. For a lot of people living in the border areas, shopping centres in the north are the nearer than those in e.g. Dublin.

3. A lot of the price differences are down to the recent collapse of sterling. There tends to be a time lag with prices, particularly consumer items, as many suppliers only review their prices annually. Due to the currency collapse, the price of all imported consumer goods being sold in UK should rise by approx. 1/3 within the next year thus eliminating much of the price difference between here and the north. This is because it will cost the UK retailers 1/3 more to obtain these goods from overseas manufacturers.

4. Prices in sterling appear to be cheaper because of the denominations used in the currency i.e. £9 sounds cheaper than €10, but isnt actually. Gives people the false impression that they are spending less. Its the opposite to the perception that people go here during the euro changeover - prices seemed more expensive, though weren't necessarily so.

5. There's an element of mania here. Once it becomes fashionable to shop up the north for bargains, a large proportion of the population will do it regardless of whether or not they are actually getting better value for money.

6. It's easy to pick a price on a particular item purchased in the north and say the north is cheaper because item A cost e.g. 30% less. There are also many things here that you could pick out as being cheaper than in the UK. I have some english friends, and when they visit here, they always draw attention to certain items which are cheaper than the UK. I suppose people only notice the bargains and forget about everything else.

Whereas I do agree that there are many cheaper items in the north due to the poorer economy and reduced operating costs, but the points above should be taken into account and I'd guess that when they are, you'd find that maybe the north isnt the bargain it seems.

 

[Purple]

Playing devils advocate about shopping up north:

1. People are not going there due to the VAT rate - not worth the trip for the majority of people for a small saving in VAT.

2. For a lot of people living in the border areas, shopping centres in the north are the nearer than those in e.g. Dublin.

3. A lot of the price differences are down to the recent collapse of sterling. There tends to be a time lag with prices, particularly consumer items, as many suppliers only review their prices annually. Due to the currency collapse, the price of all imported consumer goods being sold in UK should rise by approx. 1/3 within the next year thus eliminating much of the price difference between here and the north. This is because it will cost the UK retailers 1/3 more to obtain these goods from overseas manufacturers.

4. Prices in sterling appear to be cheaper because of the denominations used in the currency i.e. £9 sounds cheaper than €10, but isnt actually. Gives people the false impression that they are spending less. Its the opposite to the perception that people go here during the euro changeover - prices seemed more expensive, though weren't necessarily so.

5. There's an element of mania here. Once it becomes fashionable to shop up the north for bargains, a large proportion of the population will do it regardless of whether or not they are actually getting better value for money.

6. It's easy to pick a price on a particular item purchased in the north and say the north is cheaper because item A cost e.g. 30% less. There are also many things here that you could pick out as being cheaper than in the UK. I have some english friends, and when they visit here, they always draw attention to certain items which are cheaper than the UK. I suppose people only notice the bargains and forget about everything else.

Whereas I do agree that there are many cheaper items in the north due to the poorer economy and reduced operating costs, but the points above should be taken into account and I'd guess that when they are, you'd find that maybe the north isnt the bargain it seems.

Excellent post

 

[MrMan]

Re: Govt ‘will have to stem flow of shoppers across border’

So it's unpatriotic to go shopping in the North

Does that mean the Irish Govt will be stopping all the Northern cars coming down south to fill up with petrol, giving back the stamp duty paid and taxes paid by all the Northeners who own holiday homes in Donegal and telling Aer Lingus to move it's new base from Belfast back to Shannon.?

And they want us to be patriotic and shop at home and yet vote for Lisbon which exists to bring Europe closer together?

If anything, inane comments from our hypocritical Minister of Finance only encourages me to go North

The govt aren't stopping anyone from doing anything with regards to where they shop. Its a simple enough request that we pump money into our own economy rather than send money out of the country and then bleat about the recession. If you choose not to buy in the republic its not unpatriotic but its not helpful either.

 

[michaelm]

Playing devils advocate about shopping up north:

1. People are not going there due to the VAT rate - not worth the trip for the majority of people for a small saving in VAT.

2. For a lot of people living in the border areas, shopping centres in the north are the nearer than those in e.g. Dublin.

3. A lot of the price differences are down to the recent collapse of sterling. There tends to be a time lag with prices, particularly consumer items, as many suppliers only review their prices annually. Due to the currency collapse, the price of all imported consumer goods being sold in UK should rise by approx. 1/3 within the next year thus eliminating much of the price difference between here and the north. This is because it will cost the UK retailers 1/3 more to obtain these goods from overseas manufacturers.

4. Prices in sterling appear to be cheaper because of the denominations used in the currency i.e. £9 sounds cheaper than €10, but isnt actually. Gives people the false impression that they are spending less. Its the opposite to the perception that people go here during the euro changeover - prices seemed more expensive, though weren't necessarily so.

5. There's an element of mania here. Once it becomes fashionable to shop up the north for bargains, a large proportion of the population will do it regardless of whether or not they are actually getting better value for money.

6. It's easy to pick a price on a particular item purchased in the north and say the north is cheaper because item A cost e.g. 30% less. There are also many things here that you could pick out as being cheaper than in the UK. I have some english friends, and when they visit here, they always draw attention to certain items which are cheaper than the UK. I suppose people only notice the bargains and forget about everything else.

Whereas I do agree that there are many cheaper items in the north due to the poorer economy and reduced operating costs, but the points above should be taken into account and I'd guess that when they are, you'd find that maybe the north isnt the bargain it seems.

Points 2 & 3 notwithstanding, most people are shopping North because they can save money doing so. Re Point 1, The VAT rate compounds already relatively low prices. Points 4 & 5 can only apply to the numerically challenged and idiots. Big tailbacks to Newry disprove point 6 (although maybe give credence to point 5).