Madam, – Is there a case for the Irish people to take the present Government to court for their gross mismanagement of the Irish economy? Surely there are grounds for prosecution?
The Irish people been burdened for many, many years to come with massive debts caused by the Government’s gross negligence of financial affairs. They must be called to account. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Since the State gained independence, there have been four periods of extended recession, high unemployment and the stifling of prospects and potential: the 1930s, the 1950s, the 1980s and today. Each one of these periods has been caused, or presided over, by a Fianna Fáil government.
The emergency Budget and Government policies, led by the personnel responsible for the current mess, seem designed to protect the golden circle of bankers and builders, while continuing to allow the public sector to gorge on the nation’s finances.
Despite this, Fianna Fáil has gained support in recent opinion polls.
At what point will it dawn on people that those in power are a function of the public will expressed through the ballot box, and that if we are serious as a nation about recovering from this mess, and precluding its repeat, it is incumbent upon us to reject the people and policies responsible for this recession and vote accordingly? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I cannot contain my anger when I see senior bank management complaining their pension will fall if they take a “normal” wage.
I have lost every penny my wife and I had saved for our old age. What we lost was just over €300,000, an amount far less than these greedy know-nothings will get every year as a pension. Mr Linehan you get my support to fire them all. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – After the Budget, I despair that we will ever get out of this economic mess.
Take one aspect of the Budget. It was widely expected that the tax on petrol and diesel would go up. It would have made a lot of sense to increase the tax on petrol. It would have brought in more revenue for the Government and would have helped the environment. It would probably have also reduced road fatalities by encouraging people to travel less. (In the US last year, significant hikes in fuel prices meant fewer journeys were made and there were fewer road fatalities). Such an increase in tax would not have encouraged cross-Border shopping, as petrol is significantly more expensive in the North.
However, increasing the cost of diesel will increase business costs and make us less competitive. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – When Bertie Ahern added the phrase “smoke and daggers” to the English language we all smiled. Little did we suspect it would become the perfect metaphor for Minister Lenihan’s latest Budget.
While middle- and lower- income workers were peering into the smoke surrounding the income levy, perhaps breathing a sigh of relief that, for most of them, it had only increased by 1 per cent, the Minister slipped his health levy stiletto, almost unnoticed, between their ribs.
This health levy increase is effectively a 2 per cent hike in personal tax rates for everyone. Why not simply increase the income levy by the equivalent amount and face the music? If our political leaders want to gain public confidence, they’ll have to learn how to practise transparency and honesty in their dealings with us. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – It is clear that, between tax increases and wage decreases, thousands of families are being dragged out of prosperity and into poverty.
Perhaps the worst casualties are the tens of thousands who invested in grotesquely over-priced houses financed by fixed interest mortgages. People with such mortgages will benefit least from falling inflation, as the official inflation figures are driven largely by changes in interest rates.
Nonetheless, perhaps people could be helped by a governmental focus on tackling – for once and all – the rip-off element in our over-priced economy. There is something seriously wrong when it pays some people to drive from Cork to Newry for their shopping.
If the Government could tackle this with the same relentlessness that it has applied to other areas, then it is possible that a lot may be done to salvage a reasonable standard of living for the people. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Media coverage of the Budget is mostly about how it will impact on our own pockets, as we are all asked to pay a heavy price for our economic woes. Now more than ever we need to believe in the spirit of John F Kennedy: “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country”. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Fíanna Fáil: a lot (of honest taxpayers) done; more to do. – Yours, etc,