have fallen by 30 per cent, while the combined receipts from stamp duties, cgt and corporation tax have fallen by 58 per cent over the same period. in total, just over half of the revenue loss since 2007 reflects declines in these three categories. along with the collapse of tax revenues, an expansion of government spending – partly driven by policy, partly by the automatic response to a deteriorating output and employment situation – resulted in the sudden emergence in ireland of a sharp fiscal deficit, after years of surpluses. i don ’ t need to dwell today on the robust, measured and appropriate policy response in ireland that has stemmed and begun to reverse this fiscal set - back. instead, i want to note the striking extent to which uk fiscal trends up to 2009 have paralleled, albeit in a more muted way, those of ireland. as i understand it, the recession in the uk has also been characterized by a fall - off in tax revenues and a rise in spending which, though not quite as sharp as in ireland, have together resulted in the emergence of a deficit of comparable proportions as a percentage of gdp ( in this case following a number of years where the deficit ran at around 3 per cent ). uk tax revenue too has been sensitive not only to the economic cycle, but also to the level of housing market and financial sector activity. in terms of corporation tax, for example, revenues from the financial sector have typically accounted for around 25 per cent of the overall corporation tax take, while the housing sector has provided revenue in much the same way as i have described for ireland. uk treasury estimates suggest that receipts from taxes linked to these two sectors rose from around 3 per cent of gdp in 2002 – 03 to 4¼ per cent of gdp by 2007 – 08 and accounted for around half of the increase in total current receipts over this period. receipts from the two sectors are projected to decline to around 2¾ per cent of gdp in the current fiscal year, down by over one - third as a share of gdp. public spending has also been growing, not least designed to offset some of the downturn in other spending. in summary, in both countries, the collapse of the housing and credit booms has had a major impact on the public finances. for ireland at least, the lesson has been that our taxation system needs to be on a firmer footing than in the past. british and irish banks and the property bubble – home and abroad while tax incentives undoubtedly played a part in the irish story, however

gabriel makhlouf : remarks - launch of the consumer protection discussion paper remarks by mr gabriel makhlouf, governor of the central bank of ireland, at the launch of the consumer protection discussion paper, dublin, 3 october 2022. * * * good morning everyone, i am delighted that you have been able to join us here in north wall quay this morning, for the launch of our consumer protection discussion paper. the publication of this paper marks the first step in what we hope will be an open conversation on important consumer protection issues. we want to take the time to listen to you so that we understand your perspectives in order to inform our consumer protection work. consumer protection is at the heart of everything the central bank does. our guiding principle, from our founding legislation, is that our " constant and predominant aim shall be the welfare of the people as a whole. " we harness our wide - ranging economic, financial stability and regulatory expertise to protect consumers'interests. i will hand you over to deputy governor derville rowland shortly who will speak about the consumer protection framework, the themes in the paper and the role our planned engagement will play in the evolution of the framework. but first let me explain why we are publishing this paper today. as you all know, financial services are undergoing major change and we are already in a period of transition driven by innovation and changes in consumer preferences. increasingly people are accessing their financial services digitally, while some continue to favour a traditional means of access. through this period of transition, the central bank aims to continue to protect consumers'interests. we want to better understand, anticipate and be forward - looking and responsive to the new environment and the far - reaching changes taking place in financial services. in our view, consumers'interests are best protected through having effectivelyfunctioning financial services markets made up of sustainable, resilient and well - run consumer - focused firms who provide availability and choice. positive consumer outcomes depend on firms acting in their customers'best interests, consumers being empowered to make informed decisions, and rules and regulations that provide users of financial services with a proportionate level of protection. the consumer protection code sets out the conditions in which this objective is fulfilled by firms. the code has served consumers well. it has established a set of rules and 1 / 2 bis - central bankers'speeches expectations for how firms should treat their customers and has allowed us to intervene to protect consumers. but with financial services evolving rapidly, the code must also