Trace the Tax

Debt and Development Coalition Ireland and Christian Aid Ireland have jointly launched a new campaign, Trace the Tax, this week.

International tax dodging, made possible by secrecy in the global financial system, results in the loss for many countries in the developing world of tens of billions of dollars each year.



The campaign is calling on multinational companies Vodafone and Unilever to;

- back a new international accounting standard on country-by-country reporting as a means of preventing tax dodging.
- ask their auditors to back it too and the International Accounting Standards Board to introduce it

These companies are well known within Ireland, internationally recognised and have both publically expressed a commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR). They can become positive examples within the business community and help to dramatically build campaign momentum.

Call on Vodafone, Unilever and the Irish Government to support country-by-country reporting and stop tax dodging now.

The Poor Can't Pay

The Poor Can't Pay Coalition recently released two videos to highlight the difficulties faced by those on low incomes in Ireland:

Blog Action Day 2010

Today is Blog Action Day and thousands of bloggers from around the world have agreed to come together and write about water issues this year.

This is a perfect opportunity for bloggers in Ireland to discuss the proposed water charges that the government supposedly intend to bring into effect in the very near future.

The concept of water charges is in itself a good idea if it encourages people to regulate their water usage and the tax collected is ear marked for investment in the country's infrastructure - thus limiting the current disgraceful waste of such a precious resource through leakage.

Unfortunately it has been suggested that the government plans to apply a blanket charge rather than one based on actual usage. This removes any financial incentive to conserve water or to alter behaviour usage. In addition, the tax collected will simply be thrown at reducing the country's deficit and thus the dilapidated infrastructure that urgently requires upgrading will remain untouched.

At the moment, it looks like a wasted opportunity by the Irish Government to raise public awareness about water being a precious resource in need of conservation. Instead it just lookes like another attempt at trying to tax away the problems that the country is currently suffering from.

Worst Lobbying Awards 2010

Scaremongering, blocking, astroturfing, deception...

Europe is full of corporate lobbyists who engage in these underhand tactics to further the cause of big business. Profits are being put before people and the planet and these lobbyists are to blame.

The Worst EU Lobbying Awards is an initiative organised by CEO, Friends of the Earth Europe, SPINWATCH and Lobby Control.

You can help discredit big businesses engaged in inappropriate lobbying in Brussels by casting your vote and adding your voice to the call for a clean-up in Europe.

Reputation Matters

Every other week Ireland's credit rating is being dropped by various international agencies. Investors look upon the country with serious trepidation and Ireland's financial regulatory system is seen as a rouge pariah.

All in all, Ireland's reputation has taken an almighty beating.

The domestic effects are unfortunately all too apparent and most citizens will look upon the upcoming December budget with considerable apprehension. However, there is also another angle that is not being considered.

For years Irish non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have complemented their public campaigning work with strategic political advocacy. Illegitimate debt, the quality and quantity of overseas aid, policy conditionality, trade rules and the representation of developing countries on key international financial institutions are all issues that advocates have painstakingly grafted onto the agenda of Irish diplomats and civil servants in key departments. Although not always successful, the framing of Ireland's international voice by NGOs has at times instigated change at the international level.

But what now? Even if our diplomats are effectively influenced by the arguments of NGO policy advocates in this country, will they be in a position to bring that voice to the international stage. Is Ireland's reputation so damaged that we are facing a long period occupying the shadows and being ignored? Has a lot of great work now been undone?

Only time will tell but the difficult art of advocacy has just been made dramatically more complicated.