Mayor asks Government to incentivise spending

Mayor of Clare Pat Hayes has suggested the Government should look at devising a mechanism to incentivise consumer spending to support ailing sectors.

Mayor Hayes, in his new year’s message, said the lack of consumer confidence has the potential to undermine recovery and that Government has a role in addressing this.
“A lot of Irish people – and Clare is no different here – simply do not have money to spend. Conversely, there are also a lot of people who have a lot of money but simply aren’t spending it,” he said.
“Government must tackle this issue and I believe must come up with some way of incentivising people to spend,” Mayor Hayes continued.
“If the SSIA scheme was devised to incentivise people to save when the economy was overheating, there must be a counter method for encouraging people who have money to spend it a little more. Increasing VAT to 23% on a lot of goods in the recent budget will certainly not do this.
“Maybe it’s as simple as reversing the VAT increase and, indeed, reducing this tax but whatever the method, the brains of the Department of Finance surely have the wherewithal to devise such a scheme,” he said.
Mayor Hayes stated that despite all the economic challenges across the county, there is every reason why we should be confident that we can continue to turn the corner in 2012.
“In the midst of much negativity, it is worth remembering just how strong Clare is in four key areas that have been identified as the platform for recovery at a national level – tourism, agriculture, export manufacturing and arts/culture.
“2012 will be a tough year for many in our county but I’m sure that at the end of it, we will have advanced along the road to recovery. I truly believe we have a lot more going for us than we perhaps think and certainly a lot more going for us than other counties.
“There is far too much negativity out there. When you look at the areas or sectors that Government has identified as key to our recovery, we are actually strong in all of these. And the fact is also that we are probably getting the fundamentals better in these sectors than we have ever had before.
“The Celtic Tiger era saw all of Ireland lose an edge in these areas, for one reason or another, but if anything the recession, as hard as it has been for people, has corrected this. We have been reminded by it of what we are actually good at and Clare is as good, if not better, than any county in these key sectors.
“In agriculture, for instance, beef, dairy and sheep farming – all of which are staples of the sector in Clare – have enjoyed a real spike in prices. We are also witnessing a range of fantastic artisan brands emerge and, overall, quality of produce is at a level not seen before.
“Manufacturing, and particularly manufacturing of export goods, is going to be a key to recovery in Ireland and, in a probable EU downturn, will keep the Irish ship afloat when others will be struggling to avoid sinking.”
“In Clare, largely in the Shannon Free Zone but elsewhere around the county, we probably have a disproportionately high level of export manufacturers, not least multinationals, compared to other counties. We have also restored competitiveness to a large degree and there is an opportunity now to capitalise on this by attracting more companies into the region and the IDA, in particular, will have to sell our county more if it is going to get its share of the pie.”
Mayor Hayes said an area Clare definitely excels in is arts and culture.
“If anything, the boom years saw Ireland forget the importance of this sector to our economy but if there was one county that did not, it was Clare. Indeed, as solid and as promising that our bases are in agriculture and manufacturing in Clare, arts and culture is the heartbeat of our county and one of the principal reasons for people coming here and spending money. Our arts and culture give us a real edge in terms of tourism, a sector that is slowly showing signs of recovery and that recovery will quicken, I believe, in 2012.
“We are actually resource-rich in terms of tourism. We have our music, landscape, historic towns and villages, outstanding hotels and, most of all, our people and their hospitality.  We also have the infrastructure of an international airport here at Shannon. For all its challenges over recent years it, too, is about to get a fresh new start and, no doubt, one that can only enhance its services to key international destinations.
“So, in essence, we have much to be confident about. What’s key now is that we recognise this and promote all our strengths as aggressively and creatively as possible. That’s where the Government, our State agencies, indeed the county council comes in. We all have a role in this and Clare County Council will happily be at the vanguard,” Mayor Hayes concluded.