Madam, – Three points regarding Seán Ó Díomasaigh’s letter (August 13th). First, no one was forced to buy a home, they did so of their own free will. Second, it would constitute a moral hazard to bail out those who overpaid for their homes. Third, his proposed bailout of “little people” would be paid for by the rest of the ‘little people’. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Equality? The debtors’ situation outlined by Carl O’Brien (Home News, August 12th) is distressing. Is it not as remarkable as it is shameful and outrageous, that in this “modern” democracy, “ordinary” citizens who default on a loan of a few thousand euro are liable to forcible seizure of their personal assets and to be jailed, while property developers and others who default on loans of many millions and decimate the entire economy, incur no similar State punishment – and their debts are written off? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Recent reports suggest that the Government is about to cut welfare payments. It is very clear that such a move will create great hardship for those who cannot find work. Surely the unemployed would be very justified in demanding that job-sharing be introduced so as to ensure that the burden of this current mess is at least spread as evenly as possible?
I’m surprised that Colm McCarthy did not make such a suggestion as a way of ensuring some semblance of fairness. After all, we appear to be in grave danger of creating a society harshly divided along economic lines, and that must carry great risks for social order. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Isn’t it funny how all the people who believe there are “plenty of jobs out there” are currently in employment? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Both the High Court and the Supreme Court have now stated that companies controlled by a property developer have no prospect of survival. A liquidator has now been appointed to two of these companies.
The banks will surely suffer from large write-downs in this particular instance, given that a sale of some assets will ensue.
However, it is now apparent that the sky has not fallen in, nor have the Irish banks fallen off a cliff due to these upcoming write-downs. Their share prices have only marginally decreased, for what will undoubtedly be the largest write-down of the entire property mess.
Instead of rushing out with premature statements that Nama is still on track, the Department of Finance must now realise that the banking and financial system is well able to deal with massive write-downs. The banks have already been re-capitalised both on the international markets and by the Government.
Surely now the bad debts and re-capitalisation of the banks can be dealt with in the context of the banks being responsible for the bad loans that they themselves dispensed, without having to resort to the national bankruptcy that will inevitably ensue when Nama begins its work. – Yours, etc,
A chara, – The soundbite “Protect the vulnerable”, which is currently being repeated ad nauseam, by Government Ministers inspires the same level of confidence as their mantra from a few years ago when they promised a “world-class heath service”. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Why do many commentators view the effect of the Carroll Supreme Court judgment as potentially having a negative effect on property prices? Lower Irish property prices are a fundamental element of any attempt to regain international competitiveness and so anything that lowers prices should be considered as a positive effect.
If the judgment also hampers the Government’s attempt to overpay for bad loans via Nama then the Supreme Court has served the taxpayer very well. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – May I commend the Minister for Health for successfully challenging the Irish Pharmacy Union in its recent dispute.
That’s one vested interest down and only about 142 left for the Government to deal with. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Minister for Health Mary Harney is to be congratulated for doing such an excellent job in balancing the books in the Department of Health. I heard that her new contract with the pharmacists should save over €130 million. This is almost enough to cover the extra €140 million that she will need to give the hospital consultants their much-needed increase, after all they only earn about twice as much as their European counterparts. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Welcome to the new economic model: socialism for the banks and capitalism for the taxpayer. Or, as your late, much-lamented, columnist John Healy might have said: the new gombeenism. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Journalist Claire O’Connell allowed us to hear Anne McMahon’s voice loud and clear in HEALTHplus (August 11th). The reader is faced with the dilemma of deciding whether Ms MacMahon’s life (and those few more patients like her) is worth the cost of the drug, €350,000 per annum, or should the money go to save the banks instead? What kind of a society do we live in? – Yours, etc,