How To Fix The Irish Economy The Correct Way                     

The Irish economy always relied on the construction sector for jobs and growth. When the building sector isn't working nothing much happens. So many jobs are reliant on this sector that our economy in it's present form cannot survive and thrive without, so the logical thing to do is to fix the construction sector.

So How Do You Do This ? We all know that the state owns the main banks who lent out the most mortgages, if the government orders the banks to cut in half every mortgage  that was taken out  at the start of the boom years until the end of 2007 this would kick start the whole country like nothing else could.

Oliver St. John Gogarty Pub TEMPLE Bar Dublin Ireland


Here's The Reason. We all know some body that's stuck with a negative equity mortgage. If all of those people's loans were cut in half they would be able to move house and the demand would rise substantially for new houses. You can't move up the housing ladder when you're stuck with a mortgage that's twice what the house is worth. Think about all the couples who didn't buy houses in the last five years and are still living at home with their parents or in rented accommodation, they too would be able to get their foot on the property ladder as the banks would be forced to lend again as their mortgage book value would be cut in half.


So What Effect Would This Have On The Banks ? Well say a bank has 100 billion in it's mortgage books, when the government forces them to cut every body's mortgage in half that bank would be left with 50 million of mortgage in it's books, no big deal is it ? There's  not a hope in hell they'll get full mortgage back unless the government steps in and does what I have suggested. 


The benefits to the whole economy would be substantial, with the construction industry back at work the 100,000 workers who worked at the building and are currently on the dole would be back working. Just think of how much money the state would save on not paying benefit to those 100,000.

One other knock-on effect is the shops and hardware stores would also benefit with more people buying the government gets more in taxes, the pubs and bookies make more in sales,, the list goes on and on, it's a no brainer.


The lack of action by the government in tackling the economy is mind blowing, I'm certain each minister sits in his/her office thinking of more way to extract money from ordinary citizens instead of thinking of ways to fix our shattered little country. Two of main problems with the whole economy is the lack of money that's in circulation, the other is the banks unwillingness to lend money to business and those looking for a mortgage. A bank is like any other business, so they need to sell, and what they are supposed to sell is money, well maybe not sell it but loan it to make a profit. They are simply not doing it on the scale they should be.


The only way to fix the banking issue is to really take control of the management, the state already owns the two main banks. The way to do this is to replace the top brass to be replaced by civil servants from the department of finance, getting rid of the management of the banking institutions is easy, just pay them off what they are owed even if it costs millions of euros, you have to look at the bigger picture. If it costs 20,000,000 so be it, it will be worth it in the long run.


Children's Allowance, The recent budget cuts in the Children's Allowance was another easy way of extracting money from ordinary people. We all know and most people agree that this money should never have been paid to high earners. Even government ministers agree with this but stll continue to pay people that simply don't need it. When yours truly wa in receipt of this payment many years ago now I always wondered why any government would simply give me money for having kids, I still don't understand the reasoning behind it. It was brought out in a different time in Ireland when the man was working and went to the pub when he was paid his wages and some men drank their whole wages in the pub. This isn't the case any more so why should this payment continue to be issued ? Well the government's reasoning behind this is that the women of Ireland have gotten used to getting paid this money and now they can't do without it.


Some of the parents in Ireland really can't get by without this money, it forms part of their day to day spending needs. Other parents can get by without it and this money simply gets lodged into their bank accounts where it stays, it never goes into circulation, so if these parents don't need it they why pay it to them ? And then there is the other parents who receive the children's allowance and the money goes to pay for general non essential bills like paying for Sky Television each month, paying their mobile phone bills and paying for drink in the pub and wine at the supermarket, this is where most of the money goes to.


If the government were to announce that Children's Allowance will be ended in five years time this wouldn't be such a shock to parents. They would have 5 years to get used to the idea and change their household budget. This would save the state a few billion a year in 5 years time and a couple of billion a year every year after.


Street Lighting. Have you ever wondered how much the public street lights cost the state, it's a few hundred million. When the country is broke then why are the street lights on ? The money for street lights in Ireland comes from central government to every local authority in the country, the local authority then pays the E.S.B. what it owes for it's area. Why not switch off these lights ? what good are they doing being left on all night long when people are asleep in bed ? Along with adding to Ireland's Carbon Footprint they are costing us a fortune to light up empty streets and housing estates. The government are constantly telling us to cut back on non essentials to save money while it continues borrow money from German and French bond holders to waste on non essentials. Even if the street lights were turned off from midnight until 7am the savings would be considerable.


The Irish Army. Turn every soldier into a Garda, There's absolutely no need for an armed force of 8,500 in a peaceful country. These men and women should be put to better use. One solution is to up-skill them and turn them into members of the Garda Síochána . With Garda numbers being cut to the bone and crime continuing to rise these extra members would be a huge benifit to the force. Imaged having an extra 8,500 Garda out their patrolling the streets and keeping people safe. Again, the government is constantly telling the general public to up-skill themselves to fine work. A small force of about 500 soldiers could be kept on standby in case of emergencies. So what does the average soldier do on a daily basis ? Well it's nothing that benefits society in a big way, playing a few war games and doing the odd tour for the U.N. Lets make them real men and women and put them into positions where they are really needed. They are getting paid the same wages anyway. There would be no need to buy all the machinery and weapons that make up a modern army. How much would that save ?


Irish Aid To Foreign Countries. Ireland gives away almost €700 million to mostly African countries every year. At a time when Irish people are going hungry because they can't afford food to feed their families and going cold because they can't afford fuel to keep warm is it justified to be sending such large amounts of money abroad to educate and feed strangers ? Wouldn't this money be better spent at home in Ireland caring for our sick and elderly citizens. Charity begins at home, when there's money left over after taking care of our own needy people then and only then should we be given lorry loads of money to others. So where does this aid come from ? Well, the government borrows the money from the bond holders and pays at back with interest. Just think of the amout of ''Home Help'' hours that could be saved with this money ? Recent cuts to these home help hours have saved the H.S.E. just over ten and a half million. If this foreign aid was kept at home we could give everybody that needs help the help they need and also pay for a holiday in the sun for every one of them and still have money left over. Only in Ireland would this injustice take place.