LATEST ARTICLES
Viewpoints
Colm McCarthy: Ireland has a mixed legacy on climate
Colm McCarthy
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.
11 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.
4 December 2024 Opinion
Inheritance tax allowances and tax shelters
Inheritance taxes are unpopular, precisely because they will rarely match ability to pay, especially for farming assets.
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
Colm McCarthy: Implications of Dublin Airport's passenger cap
If the cap survives, there will indeed be a boost for airports and regional development away from Dublin, but not where the political cheerleaders expect.
9 October 2024 Viewpoints
Vet shortages finally being addressed
The shortage of vets is long standing and is finally to be addressed through the designation of two new universities as venues for undergraduate training.
2 October 2024 Viewpoints
Zonal electricity pricing on the agenda
In his recent report on European competitiveness, former ECB president Mario Draghi has argued for zonal pricing in the EU, and some US states have already moved in this direction.
25 September 2024 Viewpoints