ONE of Ireland’s leading economists has called for his country to embrace a fresh economic approach.

Tom Healy is director of the Nevin Economic Research Institute and author of An Ireland Worth Working For: Towards a New Democratic Programme, published by New Island Books.

In an opinion piece for the Irish Examiner to mark the publication of his new book, Healy wrote: “A century ago, elected representatives of the people endorsed a radical vision for a new republic, at the first meeting of Dail Eireann.

“The Irish Trade Union Congress had a major input to that vision, by way of what was referred to as the Democratic Programme.

“A new democratic programme, which updates the forgotten one of 1919, is urgently required. This must be based on the dignity and rights of work, ensuring that work pays and that the rights of workers are fully respected and advanced.”

Healy envisages an “all-Ireland” approach to new ideas for the island’s economy.

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He wrote: “Ireland – north and south – finds itself in a new situation that nobody could have imagined in 1919. We cannot fully grasp, even today, the significance of global change, Brexit, an ageing population, artificial intelligence, and dramatic changes in the workplace.

“The Republic of Ireland remains particularly vulnerable to future economic shocks, due to our over-reliance on foreign direct investment. In a different way, Northern Ireland remains vulnerable to instability and economic turbulence, as it depends on UK investment and support.”

A new attitude to taxation is necessary, said Healy.

He wrote: “Our system of personal, capital, and consumer taxes needs to be reformed. We need to pay more tax, not less, to fund a better and more efficient public service, as our population continues to grow as well as age. We must find ways of engaging the energies, dreams, and hopes of a new generation.”

President was target of social media attacks

THE recent election of Zuzana Caputova as the first female president of Slovakia happened despite a disinformation campaign against her on social media – according to a non-partisan, non-governmental organisation.

Globsec, based in Bratislava, has published its research on the election as played out on social media.

The group’s strategic communication programme focused on disinformation on Facebook relating to Caputova and election opponent Stefan Harabin.

Globsec reported: “More than 1300 Facebook posts were analysed to find out how the disinformation sources on Facebook informed the public about presidential candidates, topics and events.

“The most often mentioned candidate on the monitored disinformation channels on Facebook prior to the first round of the election was Stefan Harabin, followed by Zuzana Caputova.

“Harabin was also portrayed most positively of all the candidates, with 60% of all the posts associated with him having a positive connotation.”

It was the eventual winner Caputova who was portrayed most negatively of all the candidates, said Globsec, with Caputova targeted by an intense campaign and character assassination, especially once Robert Mistrik gave up his candidacy and backed her in February.

Globsec added: “The most recurring narratives used on the observed disinformation channels

in relation to the presidential election were ‘liberalism as a

threat undermining the stability of society’, along with ‘election interference’, ‘conspiracy and hidden interests’ and ‘mainstream media cannot be trusted’.

“The deployment of these narratives was used not only to discredit the liberal presidential candidates – but was also used to undermine Slovak citizens’ trust in the electoral process itself.”

Denmark enforces EU-wide data laws

THE European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is the most important change in data privacy for 20 years, and countries across

the EU are slowly beginning to use the law.

Denmark has just become the latest European country to crack down on breaches of this EU-wide law that came into force last year.

Denmark’s Data Protection Authority Datatilsynet (DPA) has issued their first GDPR fine to the taxi company, Taxa 4×35

for violating GDPR data retention periods.

According to the EU’s GDPR website, Taxa weren’t adhering to the data minimisation principle of the GDPR because they were over-retaining personal data long after the provided retention periods.

The EU website reported: “While they had deleted customers’ names and addresses after two years of retention, they still kept customers’ telephone numbers for an additional three years, arguing that telephone numbers were an essential part of their IT database and weren’t able to delete them at that time.

“This was disputed by

the Danish DPA, arguing that this explanation didn’t justify the serious breach of data privacy laws.”

The DPA recommended a fine of 1.2 million krone, approximately £140,000, which represents 2.8% of the company’s annual turnover.

While this still doesn’t match the GDPR’s standard of such a fine – 4% cent of turnover – it shows that DPAs are taking matters seriously.

While this penalty is only a recommendation, the DPA noted that Denmark’s police and courts “tend to be in line” with proposed penalties.