LATEST ARTICLES
Viewpoints
Colm McCarthy: Government has become an insurer of last resort
Colm McCarthy
The Irish State has got into the habit of retrospectively assuming compensation risks, directly financed by the Exchequer.
8 January 2025 Viewpoints
Colm McCarthy: Is it time to extend water charges?
Running the water supply and wastewater disposal system will cost the Exchequer up to €2 billion per annum if current ambitions are to be realised.
1 January 2025 Viewpoints
Heavy costs ahead to upgrade our electricity system
Additional power needs new generation units and renewables, wind farms and solar arrays being the favoured options.
Colm McCarthy: Ireland has a mixed legacy on climate
In Ireland, the willingness to subsidise has unleashed an onslaught of lobbying for more, including demands that State subvention be made available for technologies as yet unproven.
23 December 2024 Viewpoints
Fresh assessment of data centre policy needed
The portion of electricity usage devoted to data centres has already risen to around 20%, compared to 3 or 4% in the typical European country.
11 December 2024 Viewpoints
Inheritance tax allowances and tax shelters
Inheritance taxes are unpopular, precisely because they will rarely match ability to pay, especially for farming assets.
4 December 2024 Opinion
Policy pointing in the wrong direction
The problem is the attribution of emissions in accordance with the system of the UN Convention, which allocates emissions on a territorial basis, by production.
27 November 2024 Viewpoints
Colm McCarthy - will COP 29 make a difference?
Flying 20,000 people to remote Baku will have made a non-trivial contribution to carbon emissions all on its own.
20 November 2024 Viewpoints
Colm McCarthy: what Trump's victory may mean for Ireland's exports
Trade access to US markets and the tax bonanza are under threat with the focus on protectionism in the recent US election.
13 November 2024 Viewpoints
Opinion: energy security should be a priority for next Dáil
Colm McCarthy makes an argument for the ban on nuclear energy in Ireland being lifted.
6 November 2024 Viewpoints
Potential carbon emissions fines from 2030
A high emissions figure is attributed to agriculture and implies a challenging target for reduction.
30 October 2024 Viewpoints
Colm McCarthy: Irish data centres an outlier for energy use
Eirgrid, the State company which is ultimately responsible for keeping the lights on, has called a halt to data centre development in the east region.
16 October 2024 Viewpoints