SSIA reckless €3bn cost to exchequer

[fgrep]

The estimated €3bn government giveaway for SSIA savers is surely coming home to roost. When the history of our economic slump is written there will surely be a special chapter for the scheming minds that recklessly auctioned our future for squalid political gain. The usual suspects are all there Cowan, McCreevey and Bertie. It can be taken as read that not many of the low paid public sector workers benefited from this scheme.

What is the difference between a FF government spending money that was not theirs and Anglo Irish Bank teeming and lading the accounts. Both actions have played their part in bringing us to where we are now as a country. Broke and discredited.

[euroboy]

Well I've said it before, the Irish people need to be honest with themselves, something they arent just yet. When they say the govt wasted money, THE GOVT WASTED MONEY ON THE PEOPLE on such things as SSIA's, tax breaks, mortgage interest relief, getting 1/3 of the workforce outside of the tax net.

The SSIA's disguished the downturn for a year or two as people were spending money from their own savings plus 1/4 from the govt.

Ive always believed if the govt wanted to encourage people to save it should have abolished DIRT or at least gave a generous allowance for interest income before dirt was applicable.

[jpc]

If anything people were lucky to have had the chanch to save.
A lot of that money wasn't frittered away as was feared.
A lot of it was used to pay down debt or is still available.
It was better use of the money than propping up that shower of wasters in goverment.

[ellie08]

Having worked in the bank at the time the SSIA's came out, it was not the poor people who saved it was the rich who made the most out of it. A lot of people on low incomes started, but had to withdraw the money. It was such a shame. Also the banks got more credit for the SSIP's and pushed them on people who have now lost a bomb, by leaving it in until now. Now their investment is worth very little. I know some people who even took out 2 even tho you weren't supposed to - again wealthy people. Fair play to those who made money, but it's a shame and less well off didn't benefit more.

[LeftOfCentre]

The 250 per month would have gone into property and inflated the market even more !

[seabhcan]

A more effective way to make people save would have been to cap mortgages at 80%. All those 20% deposits would have taken years to build up in bank accounts - meaning people had savings when things went bad, the housing market would have slowed, and banks would have more cash on deposit to lend to businesses.

[jpc]

A more effective way to make people save would have been to cap mortgages at 80%. All those 20% deposits would have taken years to build up in bank accounts - meaning people had savings when things went bad, the housing market would have slowed, and banks would have more cash on deposit to lend to businesses.

That would have been a sensible prudent approach to take.
But the country was in the trall of the get rich quick merchants.
Ruari Quinn was to my mind a very able and prudent (in the true sense of the term)
finance minister.
Look at what happened after the rainbow get kicked out by the gombeens.

[LeftOfCentre]

A more effective way to make people save would have been to cap mortgages at 80%. All those 20% deposits would have taken years to build up in bank accounts - meaning people had savings when things went bad, the housing market would have slowed, and banks would have more cash on deposit to lend to businesses.

geat point!. .

but the price of houses cant go down can it! so why not have 100% mortgages!

[Thac0man]

Well I've said it before, the Irish people need to be honest with themselves, something they arent just yet. When they say the govt wasted money, THE GOVT WASTED MONEY ON THE PEOPLE on such things as SSIA's, tax breaks, mortgage interest relief, getting 1/3 of the workforce outside of the tax net.

That is true. We are still playing pass the buck. Things got so crazy at one stage that we started paying child support to people working here, but whose families were not resident in Ireland. Something I believe still goes on. That utter insanity was greeted by approving nods and a few here heres by politicians and Union leaders now criticising waste!

[LeftOfCentre]

The sickening thing to me is that if FF/x had chosen to be more responsible they, would have been out of office very quickly.

The fact is that too many people are simply too self interested. . . . the universal payment of children's allowance is a typical example.

It simply CAN NOT be justified . . . but try to take it away and all of a sudden the children of a couple earing 70k plus pa start to list their expenses and start using phrases like ''' the most vulnerable in society.'''

The Irish electorate are a very simple bunch of people .... and when the economy is running well, often the 'safe', 'lowest common denominator' policies are the only way to stay in power.

Thats why having muti party government really suits us right now (as long as the minor party are not the toothless greens!) ......

The next X/LAB government will do more for the the country that any other government in the last century.

Labour has the courage to do whats BEST for Ireland & not simply do what it takes to stay in power.