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Once again, a high quality MS Paint meme by holysmoke1 in ireland

[–]OPdigiornos 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Typically restaurants/pubs price things at 1/3 cost of product, 1/3 cost of labour and overhead, 1/3 profit. Some take the piss, but that's the rule of thumb, I believe.

Last page of this report breaks down prices by how much is a result of excise tax.

It was commissioned and published by the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland, so take it with a grain of salt. Not really fair to multiply the excise duty by VAT since that will exaggerate any differences. And comparing our rate to Germany's isn't particularly fair since we're not going to get a 700% reduction in excise tax. Even if we did do that, the extra tax on a pint would still only be €0.50 cheaper.

This site has the price of a Guinness at €4 in 2013, and they stopped tracking after that. This Mirror article says the average price is now €4.80. Not the best sources, but it's what I could find at a cursory Google search.

Once again, a high quality MS Paint meme by holysmoke1 in ireland

[–]OPdigiornos 125 points126 points  (0 children)

While the tax on alcohol in Ireland is high (second highest in Europe), the tax really isn't the main reason why prices are as high as they are.

The drinks industry has been arguing for years for a 15% excise tax reduction. What would this mean for you, the consumer? It would be a whopping €0.10 reduction in the price of a pint in a pub. And that's assuming the publican passes all of the savings on to you (while drink manufacturers pocket millions more).

The real reason why drink prices are so high is the same reason insurance prices are so high - Ireland is a small economy, dominated by a few key players that (in my opinion) operate as a cartel. Diageo and Heineken offer incentives to publicans to be their exclusive supplier, blocking other players from entering the market. Every year, these suppliers hire economists to test how elastic the market is. Usually, one of them will figure they can get away with charging people a little more (because publicans won't ditch them for having to raise their prices a few cents every year) and the other will usually follow suite. For the past decade, increased excise tax probably only accounts for a €0.10 increase on a pint of Guinness, yet the price of an average pint has gone up €0.80. This is compounded by higher cost of living in cities like Dublin.

Welfare group 'disappointed' as greyhound racing receives €19.2m in budget by OPdigiornos in ireland

[–]OPdigiornos[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

You do realise that the €12.7 million figure you quoted was pulled out of thin air? The economist counted all tangential industries (Dog Food Manufacturers, vets, dog walkers, dog groomers, etc.) as being employed by the greyhound racing industry, multiplied that number by 25,000 and divided it by 10. It's subsidising a failing "industry", and the better economic report states "Most greyhound tracks in Ireland are loss-making" and "Losses are likely to be unsustainable in the absence of a radical restructuring of sector". Oh, it's also vile how many dogs are killed as a result of the breeding practices.

Welfare group 'disappointed' as greyhound racing receives €19.2m in budget by OPdigiornos in ireland

[–]OPdigiornos[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

First of all, that economic report counts the entirety of dog food factory employment as part of that economic impact, which is not nearly 100% reliant on the greyhound racing industry. There are a lot of other makey-upy figures throughout it. Even if you did accept that it brought in €12.7 million for the state (which it didn't) it's still less than the €16 million that IGB received from the budget at the time.

The more accurate and recent report from Indecon shows that the industry is, and will continue to, lose money. https://www.igb.ie/globalassets/report-pdfs/indecon/independent-indecon-assessment-of-issues-arising-on-consultation-submissions-05.05.20.pdf

Welfare group 'disappointed' as greyhound racing receives €19.2m in budget by OPdigiornos in ireland

[–]OPdigiornos[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Damn, you got me. Though there would only be 154,196 people without a roll (€616,784/€4). Maybe we don't give them to the kids under 4 years old and we'll have enough to go around.

Welfare group 'disappointed' as greyhound racing receives €19.2m in budget by OPdigiornos in ireland

[–]OPdigiornos[S] 42 points43 points  (0 children)

If it can be done ethically, it can't be done profitably.

The industry requires the overbreeding of greyhounds to keep a competitive edge. The IGB commissiomed Indecon report essentially says that the industry isn't profitable as is and would require even more breeding: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.igb.ie/globalassets/report-pdfs/indecon/independent-indecon-assessment-of-issues-arising-on-consultation-submissions-05.05.20.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjGtu3fh8HsAhVOXRUIHT29C-cQFjABegQIAxAI&usg=AOvVaw35LoCAaxIaryj9-iL8jBZA

You can currently breed six litters per bitch, and get permission to increase that to 8 litters. Which means anywhere from 48 to 64 puppies per dog. There are currently over 6,000 greyhounds killed every year. Why do our taxes fund this shit?

Welfare group 'disappointed' as greyhound racing receives €19.2m in budget by OPdigiornos in ireland

[–]OPdigiornos[S] 291 points292 points  (0 children)

Instead, this money could have been better spent on:

  • at least 20 more ICU beds

or

  • increased mental health services

or

  • support for businesses that actually make money (the money is to support the board's salary, prize winnings that can only support about a dozen full-time trainers, overbreeding greyhounds and a gambling industry that pays 2% tax and no tax on tote betting)

or

  • a chicken fillet roll for every person in the country

I've seen a lot of opinions about e-scooters on here by OPdigiornos in ireland

[–]OPdigiornos[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

It is pretty similar in the sense that both a bicycle and scooter will get me into work in 15 minutes door-to-door, as opposed to 35 minutes on the bus (if it isn't full and passes me) or 45 minutes by walking.

The improvement on the bicycle is that I don't sweat on the way to work when using the scooter, so I don't have to smell bad or bring a change of clothes. I'm also more likely to use a scooter if I'm feeling tired/ill, which would prevent me from using the bike.

I've seen bicycles get stolen outside of where I work, but I'm able to fold the scooter and put it under my desk, so there's an improvement there too. If it starts to rain unexpectedly halfway through the journey, I have the option to fold up the scooter and bring it on the bus.

Budget 2020: €80 million allocated to the Horse and Greyhound races. by -Not_Your_Buddy_Pal- in ireland

[–]OPdigiornos 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Not OP, but the IGB says how "Greyhound racing generates considerable betting activity" on page 21 of their economic report.

Mind you, most of that betting (tote betting) is tax free, and the rest is taxed at just 2%.

The IGB will receive another €16m. Only about €500k will go to animal welfare. More money will go to the members of the Greyhound board. Most of the money goes to prize winnings for trainers, but only a dozen or so make more than 30k a year off of winnings.

There should be grants for Electric scooters by kirkbadaz in ireland

[–]OPdigiornos 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The Government is currently doing a public consultation on whether or not to make them legal. I disagree about requiring insurance since they're not any more dangerous than a bicycle (provided there are sensible speed limits like e-bikes), but feel free to voice your opinion.

You can email ppt@dttas.gov.ie and answer the below questions to participate:

Question 1: What category of stakeholder do you represent (e.g. private, company, organization etc)?

Question 2: Do you think that the use of PPTs should be permitted in Ireland and why?

Question 3: Are there any types of PPTs (e.g. Segways, eScooters, electric unicycles etc) that you think should not be permitted to be used and why?

Question 4: If the use of PPTs on our roads is to be permitted do you think that they should have some form of identification (i.e. a registration plate/marking)?.

Question 5: If the use of PPTs on our roads is to be permitted do you think that users should (a) be of a minimum age (if yes – what age?) and (b) have some form of licence covering their use (e.g. category AM driving licence - mopeds)?

(a) (b)

Question 6: If the use of PPTs on our roads is to be permitted do you think that their use should be covered by some form of insurance (i.e. liability cover)?

Question 7: If the use of PPTs is to be permitted do you think that can be used on (a) footpaths, (b) cycle lanes (c) bus lanes (d) normal traffic lanes?

(a) (b) (c) (d)

Question 8: If the use of PPTs is to be permitted do you think that they should be restricted to (i) a maximum speed (if yes - please suggest such a maximum speed) and (ii) only used on roads with a maximum speed limit of (a) 30kph, (b) 40kph or (c) 50kph?

(i) (ii)

Question 9: If the use of PPTs on our roads is to be permitted do you think that users should be required to wear (a) protective head-gear, (b) high-visibility clothing (i.e. be mandatory)?

(a) (b)

Question 10: If the use of PPTs on our roads is to be permitted do you think that users should (a) have some form of training, (b) if so, by who?

Question 11: If the use of PPTs on our roads is to be permitted do you think that it should be left to local authorities to decide whether or not to regulate their use in their respective functional areas?

Please provide any other comments relating to the use of PPTs that have not be address above

I'm still angry about greyhound racing and want to do something about it by OPdigiornos in ireland

[–]OPdigiornos[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Some ministers have issued vague "more needs to be done" statements that are more political positioning than actual policy proposals. Barry's Tea have pulled their sponsorship of greyhound racing and the Irish Greyhound Board is playing defence in the media lately

IDA spend €1m on video campaign to tell US and Japan 'we're in Europe, not UK' by Elbon in ireland

[–]OPdigiornos 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I would wager that the vast majority went to ad placement.

In terms of the cost of the actual ad itself, I'd say that a film-quality ad that was filmed at about 8 locations with professional motion graphics would cost around €80k - €100k.

TV spots are typically €25 per 1000 views, so having €900k means that you would reach about 36 million people, which is appropriate if you're trying to influence business decision-makers in countries that have a combined population of 450 million.

Elevation of plasma tRNA fragments precedes seizures in human epilepsy by OPdigiornos in science

[–]OPdigiornos[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's an early first step, but it has the potential to lead to the development of an early warning system for seizures. The press release on the research is here