Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 19 October 2022
Committee on Budgetary Oversight
Post-budget 2023 Examination: Discussion
Dr. Stephen Kinsella:
Exactly. The key point here is that one has to be able to tell people that this has changed and now one is updating the rule. One has to be very good at communication to get that right. One has to be clear and nuanced in one's language at the same time. It is a bit of an art, but it can be done. When it is done well, people respond. It might not be the average citizen who is changing his or her behaviour, but it certainly would be, for example, industry group. It would be lobbies. It would be certain sectors of the economy that pay particular attention to the pronouncements of Government. One can certainly have their attention on a much greater level. The more clearly one can communicate to them, the better. The perfect example that is going wrong is the concrete block levy. It is not only bad economics; it is a bad policy. It was badly communicated. It is kind of a case study or at least it will be when I update my slides. It is an interesting way to think. In a small open economy that does not have a monetary policy, this is an extra set of levers that the Government has that it is choosing not to use for one reason or another.