Cowen: failed tax policies

The €8 cut in the carers' allowance announced in the budget is typical of the misdirected social policies of the current government. The measure will save 1% on the current annual spend of €504.9m according to budget estimates, or about €5m. In the scheme of things it is a nothing measure and a minister with conviction would have instead means-tested the old age pension or at least the entitlement to a medical card for the over-70s, measures that would have produced real savings. But that would have hit Fianna Fáil support in an election year so couldn't be allowed happen. It's only delaying the inevitable however – eventually means-testing of some sort will be brought in.

Section 23 properties in west face wrecker's ball

The decision to change the Section 23-type relief for properties marks a further unwinding of the McCreevy-Ahern-Cowen tax policies that have helped destroy the country's fiscal position. The initial scheme made sense – rejuvenate areas, Dublin in particular, that had suffered social decay – but its expansion to the border-midlands-west region was a disaster. Too many people in these areas became reliant on the construction industry and there was far too little demand for what was being built. How many houses were developed targeting the rental market of workers at MBNA in Carrick-on-Shannon? Far too many but those looking for a handy tax shelter bought them up. Now they're being hit on the double – the value has collapsed and from next year the relief will be restricted to income from the property itself. Time is also ticking on the empty units that have never been bought or occupied. The qualifying period for the relief will start on 30 June next year regardless of the date of the first lease. That means that these houses are likely to be the first to be demolished by Nama, unless someone can restart the influx of Germans and Dutch that began in the late 1960s.

Infrastructure investment will create welcome jobs

Much more welcome is the decision to keep public investment spending above 3% of GDP with the focus on education, enterprise and tourism, and Irish infrastructure assets. The country's infrastructure is still nowhere near good enough and linking up with third-party institutional investors to ensure its continuing development is not ideal but will create thousands of jobs for unemployed construction workers. In a climate where most families have been hit by the collapse of the sector, it is a welcome move but the essence here is speed. It takes too long to prepare the projects, too long to build them and too long to open them. More cooks may for once be the answer – cutting the dole queues in the process.