Institutional Reforms in Ireland in response to the National and Global Financial Crises. Challenges and Achievements

Journal title RIVISTA TRIMESTRALE DI SCIENZA DELL’AMMINISTRAZIONE
Author/s Yvonne Scannel
Publishing Year 2015 Issue 2015/1 Language Italian
Pages 16 P. 129-144 File size 98 KB
DOI 10.3280/SA2015-001010
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The global banking crisis in 2008 had dire consequences for the relatively small open Irish economy. Ireland was facing the twin problems of: a sharp decline in construction-related taxes and enormous losses by the banks. So to fight against this situation Irish Government agreed in 2010 a Programme with the EU Commission and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to stabilise the financial sector, restore sustainable public finances, get the economy back to growth and restore Ireland to financial market funding for 2010-2013. The reform measures in the Programme fall under the following headings: Labour Market, Personal Debt, and Competition. However, it is remarkable that in a fiercely litigious country there were no constitutional challenges to the Austerity Programme or Institutional reforms. The relative success of Austerity has led to a situation where the trade unions and representatives of vulnerable and marginalised groups are now suffering from "austerity fatigue" and demanding compensation for the painful cutbacks endured.

La crisi bancaria globale nel 2008 ha avuto conseguenze disastrose per la relativamente piccola economia irlandese. L’Irlanda ha dovuto affrontare il duplice problema del forte calo delle imposte connesse alla costruzione e delle enormi perdite da parte delle banche. Quindi, per lottare contro questa situazione il Governo irlandese ha siglato nel 2010 un programma con la Commissione europea e il Fondo monetario internazionale, per stabilizzare il settore finanziario, ripristinare le finanze pubbliche, riportare l’economia alla crescita e ripristinare l’Irlanda al finanziamento dei mercati finanziari per il periodo 2010-2013. Le misure di riforma che rientrano nel programma intendono operare nei seguenti settori: mercato del lavoro, il debito personale e la concorrenza. Tuttavia è singolare che in un paese litigioso non si sono posti problemi costituzionali al programma di austerità e alle riforme istituzionali. Il relativo successo dell’austerità ha portato ad una situazione in cui i sindacati ed i rappresentanti dei gruppi più vulnerabili sono ora affetti dalla fatica dell’austerità e chiedono un ristoro per i tagli subiti.

Keywords: Banking crisis, structural reforms, local government reforms.

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Yvonne Scannel, Institutional Reforms in Ireland in response to the National and Global Financial Crises. Challenges and Achievements in "RIVISTA TRIMESTRALE DI SCIENZA DELL’AMMINISTRAZIONE" 1/2015, pp 129-144, DOI: 10.3280/SA2015-001010