Sir, – Leo Varadkar has said that “Sometimes people go abroad for a period and earn money”. Implicit in his remark is the acknowledgment that people have more disposable income abroad than at home.
Why is Ireland unable to achieve what other countries do for their citizens? I “earned” every single penny over a decade working in Ireland, but never having broken through the glass roof and into the golden circle of the other 40 per cent of the population earning more than the average wage in Ireland, I was unable to put money aside in a high-cost economy. I am therefore now among those who went abroad to earn money. I am annoyed, to put it mildly, that the various political administrators over the years in Ireland have never made concerted efforts to reduce the cost of living, especially the greatest cost of accommodation. Why is Paris cheaper than Dublin? Regarding the Taoiseach’s various ministerial roles, could his use or non-use of policy have anything to do with this? The answer will depend on the privilege and sense of entitlement and deflection of blame, but emigration is a great policy solution for those bothersome (and therefore disenfranchised) emigrants. – Yours, etc,
ANDREW LALLY,
Paris.
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Sir, – If you need to ask your parents for a deposit on a house, why not go the whole hog and ask them to buy it outright for you? You’re welcome, Leo. – Yours, etc,
MARY BYRNE,
Bray,
Co Wicklow.
Sir, – Leo Varadkar is correct. Many Irish parents enable their children to buy their own homes. It’s typically called a one-way ticket. – Yours, etc,
EUGENE TANNAM,
Firhouse, Dublin 24.