Madam, – The Government’s decision to reduce social welfare rates for blind and disabled persons is disappointing. Such benefits should, like old-age pensions, have been left untouched. I cite myself as but one example.
I had bone cancer which necessitated the removal of much of my pelvis, my left hip and femur and the replacement of these bones with a titanium mega-prosthesis at a specialist orthopaedic hospital in London. This procedure saved my life, yet left me severely disabled. I cannot work full-time despite a burning desire to do so, hence every cent of disability allowance that I receive is crucial to my well-being.
It seems the Government has reduced the rate of disability allowance by the same amount as that of jobseeker’s allowance in order to encourage recipients of both allowances back to work – if they can obtain any employment. If members of the Government think I am more capable of working than an old-age pensioner, they are very much mistaken. I trust that a future, sensible administration will reverse this manifestly unjust decision and increase the rate of disability allowance next December. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – One welcome feature of the Budget announcement was that An Taoiseach is taking a further pay cut of €14,000 on top of last year’s cut and that Ministers will take a €10,000 cut. It then became blatantly obvious that TDs were taking no cut this time, despite their €90,000 salaries plus ridiculous expenses. Is it possible that a backbench revolt was feared and that the entire Budget would have been put at risk? The incoming government would do well to take note and arrange to correct the anomaly immediately.
A healthy Dáil majority should ensure a 5 per cent cut in TD salaries, even if TDs would have to be shamed into it. This would allow some small alleviation of some of the dreadful Budget measures, but more importantly, set an example.
Who knows, perhaps politicians would actually get some credit for doing the right thing. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Brian Lenihan has been used to introducing his budgets in Irish, presumably to impress some influential people.
This time he dispensed with this. I assume he would have used German if he thought he could get away with it? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – After the Budget I heard Brian Lenihan yet again repeat the mantra that our welfare system is considerably more generous than our nearest neighbours. In fact, research has shown our welfare system fares quite poorly compared to most other western economies when one factors in the cost of living, in particular housing and schooling costs. While our payment is numerically large, most of it goes on providing basics. The “official” line is repeated as fact by many politicians and yet there is much data from the OECD and other sources to prove otherwise. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I was surprised to read the sub-heading “Plans to raise revenue from taxation may founder as incentives to work are dampened” on the article by Dan O’Brien, Economics Editor (Budget supplement, December 8th). Surely, given the state of the country’s finances, people in work and those seeking work should, for the sake of the country, but especially for the sake of those out of work, be prepared to put in a little extra effort to increase productivity, thereby helping to increase our exports, in order to provide vital extra revenue for the country as a whole.
Even if the differential between working and not working is only minimal, the very fact of having a reason to get out of bed in the morning is better than moping around all day in a depressed state. – Yours, etc
PETER PALLAS,
Toberteascain,
Ennis, Co Clare.
Madam, – Now that our failed banks are in public ownership, may we assume that the €250,000 salary cap for public servants will apply to bank executives? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – It seems to me that Eamon Ó Cúiv, Minister for Social Protection should more correctly be called Minister for Social Destruction. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Apart from the lone and lonely voice of Fr Seán Healy are we once again to be subjected to a deafening silence on the part of the clergy and in particular, the hierarchy, when it comes to the plight of the most innocent and vulnerable segment of society, as they suffer financial abuse at the hands of our so-called Government in this year’s Budget? – Yours, etc,
Madam, Come back Ernest Blythe, all is forgiven. – Yours, etc,
DERMOT O’SHEA,
Meadow Grove,
Churchtown, Dublin 16.
A chara, – Budget 2011’s position on Section 23 relief is wholly unfair and damaging in the long run. If citizens and companies are unable to make medium- to long-term plans on the reasonable and legitimate expectation that the terms into which they enter an initiative are to remain (those terms being the incentivising factor, endorsed and promoted as a matter of economic and social policy), what confidence does it give them to engage with subsequent schemes?
Understandably there are huge swathes of our society that have been seriously hurt. Indubitably there remain few of our friends, neighbours and family that have not been touched by the collapse of our economy. However, establishing a precedent where government policy can be changed so drastically and without discussion is dangerous, irresponsible and populist. If I were heading a company coming here from abroad, what would I think? – Is mise,
CORMAC O’CULAIN,
Thomas Davis Street,
Christchurch, Dublin 8.
Madam, – For the first time ever, my modest contributory pension will be subject to a reduction of 4 per cent. While I believe we must all share the burden and am happy to make this small contribution towards the costs of running the State, should these costs include maintaining 120 councillors for Dublin City and County, and State cars for former taoisigh, as well as providing enormous expenses for certain rural Dáil Deputies? The city of San Diego, with a population similar to that of Dublin’s, gets by with 12 councillors. Despite Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan’s justification of being driven by exigency, the Romans would have said fiat justitia ruat caelum (may justice be done though the heavens fall).
This Budget has injustice written all over it. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – “Pearse Doherty of Sinn Féin is to be congratulated for showing how a real opposition should perform when he responded to the Minister for Finance’s Budget speech” – so says EF Fanning (December 9th).
If fighting talk is the hallmark of good opposition so be it, but it must be backed by sound counter- proposals to those in Tuesday’s Budget. EF Fanning should know that Sinn Féin’s budget proposals would not have met the terms of the IMF/EU bailout and as such had no hope of success.
Perhaps Sinn Féin has some magical stockpile of cash that will tide us over until we are back on our feet? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Budget Day – December 7th, 2010, a day that will live in IMFamy (sic). – Yours, etc,
Madam, – It is with deep sadness that I acknowledge the death of Donogh O’Malley’s vision of free education for all. For more than 40 years, all our children have had the opportunities, afforded by Mr O’Malley’s brave decision (in relation to free education and free transport of children to school), in the impoverished 1960s. How wonderful was the sight of those free, yellow school buses on our country roads. It seems we have reverted to an era where education was the privilege of those who lived in towns or could afford boarding school. Are those free, yellow school buses consigned to history? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Payments to GPs are being cut by between five and 50 per cent. It appears no other healthcare worker is being treated thus. And yet the Government espouses ideas of increasing “community care” . The mind boggles. – Yours, etc,