Which is the better place to live: Ireland or New Zealand?

Question

Which is the better place to live: Ireland or New Zealand?

Answer 1

New Zealand...Ireland Is a nice country but New Zealand is much more nicer and amazing!!!  

Answer 2

ireland,cuz its the land of the ire

Answer 3

New Zealand

Answer 4

New Zealand.

Answer 5

new zealand

Answer 6

3.1 Monopolies and Low corporate tax rate

Ireland’s GDP per capita (PPP) in 2006 was $40,268, the 4th highest in the world and the 3rd highest in the Europe, whereas New Zealand’s GDP per capita (PPP) in 2006 was $25,517, ranked about 20th in the world. The data showed a big gap between Ireland’s GDP per capita and New Zealand’s GDP per capita. In the next paragraphs, different policies have been explained based on the two countries.

New Zealand’s economy is too protected, whereas Ireland has opened its market to the global investors. Many of the NZ companies are still monopolies, like Telecom and Air NZ. Like Telecom, they charge high prices and provide technologies that are lagging years behind other developed countries. That is not all; the major reason for low NZ GDP per capita is the government did not really try hard to stimulate the economy. The government of Ireland has implemented several policies to stimulate that economy.

Since 1997, the government of Ireland has favored low taxation policy to encourage foreign investment in Ireland. The current corporate tax rate is 12.5%, whereas in NZ it is 33%. Many global corporations have invested in Ireland, including Microsoft, IBM and Google; they have found Ireland an excellent investment location. Now Ireland is the largest exporter of software related goods in the world. In fact, a lot of foreign software and music are filtered through the country to take advantage of Ireland’s non-taxing of royalties from copyright goods. Actually, Ireland’s corporate tax is one of the lowest in the Europe.

3.2 Welfare system

Both Ireland and New Zealand are welfare state in which welfare expenditure is relatively large. Comparing the Western European countries with the United States, the EU countries have relatively stronger safety nets. Though Ireland and New Zealand are both welfare states, they still have differences in their policies.

3.2.1 Health care

Everyone living in Ireland, including visitors who hold a European health insurance card, are entitled to free maintenance and treatment in public hospital (Citizensinformation.ie, 2008). Residents can also apply for a medical card, which entitles holders to free hospital care, GP visits, dental care, optical services, aural services, prescription drugs and medical appliances (Citizensinformation.ie, 2008). In contrast, in New Zealand people can only get treatment in public hospital for free, but the other services like GP visits, dental care, optical services, aural services, and prescription drugs are not free.

In Ireland there is a maximum amount each individual can spend on prescription drugs every month; over that amount, all medications are free. In Ireland, for each medical card holder the maximum amount spent on prescription drugs is $90 (Citizensinformation.ie, 2008). In New Zealand, there is no maximum spending on drugs and the government only subsidizes the least expensive drugs in some categories. This can be very bad for some NZ patients, like cancer patients, spending about $2000 to $5000 each month for the drugs to keep them alive. Many patients are heavily in debt, struggling to survive financially.

Many Western Europe countries have similar health care systems, slightly different from country to country, such as in Germany the health care is the least expensive of all EU countries. Germans pay only about $10 euro for half a year to the government, and they can get all the services for free, including GP visits, dental services, optical services, aural services, prescription drugs and hospital care.

The EU countries have better welfare systems because they have high GDP and better policies toward welfare. (Barr, 2004) stated the welfare spending of NZ is 18.5% of the total GDP which is relatively low in welfare states, but in Scandinavian countries, such as Sweden,  welfare spending is about 30% of the total output.

3.3 Education

The educational system in Ireland is similar to other western countries. There are three levels of education in Ireland: primary, secondary and tertiary, and all levels are free of charge.

The government of Ireland knew the education is important for the economy and the society as a whole, so it made the education free from primary to tertiary for all EU citizens. This gives everyone a chance to study in the university without worrying about the loan they have to pay back after graduation.

There is a great freedom in choosing the type of school the child will attend. There is no such thing like school district; children can attend any school in any area, not just the schools in their own districts. This results in a greater variety of choices and gives the children an opportunity to study in the top schools.  

Answer 7

Depends on what type of living style you like.

From what I know Ireland rains a lot, but has loads of historic sites and stuff. It is also more convenient and busier if you lice in the cities.

My friend who lives in New Zealand told me it's quite boring there, for girls there's not much there to shop for and it's also seemingly quiet and not busy. However, if you prefer and more milder climate, it is a better place for you.

But why leave Canada?

( If you are planing to do so... )