Tag Archives: Irish Economy

More austerity ahoy.

The Fiscal Advisory Council says the weakening international growth outlook raises a question mark over the ability of the Government to hit its Budget deficit target of 8.6% of GDP, and says extra measures may be needed this year.

In the years up to 2015, the council repeats its view that the Government ought to introduce an extra €2.8bn in budget measures on top of what is already planned.

Govt May Not Hit 8.6% Deficit Target – Fiscal Advisory Council (RTE)

Who is in the Fiscal Advisory Council?

Mark Malone writes:

Here a sneak preview shot of Debt Justice Action network getting ready for the day ahead.We kick off with a public meeting/press conference at 11.15am, Central Hotel, Exchequer St, Dublin, then we have a few actions through the day at Department of Finance, Anglo buildings and of course we will be joining a multitude of groups descending upon the FG Ard Fheis [at the Convention Centre, Dublin] later at 5.30pm

Sit-in at Game in the ILAC centre, Dublin, this afternoon. Top: Gemmy Cooney (4 years’ service) and second pic, from left, Des Collins (5 years’), Nathaly Artero (2 years’) and Gemma.

Statement from the staff of Game (Ireland).

As of last Monday, GAME has told all employees that they are being made redundant. The company has appointed administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers in the UK to look after the stores that are being closed in the UK but they have failed to appoint an administrator to the business in the Republic of Ireland.
We have only been told to make a claim to the state for our statutory redundancy entitlements, a process which we have not been offered any support with and which we understand will take over a year to complete whilst GAME and PricewaterhouseCoopers walk away from any responsibility or liability in the Republic of Ireland, even whilst they have asked us to remove all company assets back to the UK, which we believe puts them out of reach of any Irish creditors.
We believe GAME and PricewaterhouseCoopers are making us a burden on the Irish state and Irish tax payer, whilst avoiding their responsibilities. Employees have not been given any of the paperwork or information required to claim redundancy from the state. We were instead given information about UK redundancy procedures. We were informed that we would not be paid redundancy or any statutory or contractual notice periods or any outstanding annual leave.
GAME and PricewaterhouseCoopers is still trading as a going concern in the UK and we feel that they should pay us the wages and entitlements we are due including statutory notice and redundancy payments rather than forcing us to spend a year our families do not have claiming our entitlements from the Irish state and taxpayers.
GAME and PricewaterhouseCoopers can expedite these payments and allow staff to pay their mortgages and feed their families without having to wait as much as 16 months for their just entitlements.
We, the employees of Game Ireland, believe the way we are being treated is wholly unfair and unjust. We are now sitting in our stores as a form of protest until GAME and PricewaterhouseCoopers address our concerns.

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Game Ireland Fight (Facebook)

Previously: Occupy Game Street

(Laura Hutton/Photocall Ireland)
Thanks Dermot Bohan

During his visit to Washington last week Brian Cowen gave a speech (entitled ‘The Euro: From Crisis to Resolution? Some Reflections from Ireland on the Road Thus Far’) at Georgetown University, reported in today’s Financial Times (behind paywall). It was the first time he has spoken of the financial calamity he presided over since becoming a “private citizen”.

‘Highlights’ included:

“Ireland’s adjustment path and return to markets can be helped by continued restructuring of the banking system. The next reform must involve a deal on the Anglo Irish Bank promissory notes.”

“The euro area policy of ‘No bank failures and no burning of senior bank creditors’ has been a constant during the crisis. And as a member of the euro area, Ireland must play by the rules.” 

“Given what we now know, it is clear that serious mistakes were made in individual European countries, including in Ireland, prior to the euro crisis and these all go back to a fundamental misjudgment of risk. Mistakes were also made at an international level. . . When the crisis happened both Europe at a central level and individual countries were left floundering to try and design appropriate and adequate policy responses. Europe has to some extent attempted ever since to play catch-up, although increasingly the responses have been more significant.”

“In some respects the Euro crisis is like multiple plane crashes occurring at the same time where manufacturing design faults, exceptional conditions, pilot errors and mistakes by air traffic controllers all led to unexpected and disastrous results.”

“Whether a narrower [bank] guarantee would have staved off an implosion of the banking system at a lower cost to the state is a matter for economic historians to ruminate on. We had to deal with this crisis in real time. Our view at the time was that we would get one shot at calming the markets.”

Full text of speech here (vie Corkeconomics)

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4l7yH193Ao&feature=player_embedded

“This could be the first country to smash the bankers in the face.”

Our old friend Max Keiser and RT co-host Stacy Herbert on the Household Charge boycott.

Growing Antitax Movement Shows Irish Stoicism Wearing Thin (Douglas Dalby, New York Times, March 19, 2012)

Council Staff To Knock On Doors For €100 house Charge (Paul Melia, irish Independent)

Previously: “Sullen, Peasant Discontent In The Finest Irish Tradition”


Paul Krugman (with ‘Keynes’ the cat).

Dire predictions? He’s got a Nobel for them.

And every slight uptick in an austerity economy has been hailed as proof that the policy works. Irish austerity has been proclaimed a success story not once but twice, first in the summer of 2010, then again last fall; each time the supposed good news quickly evaporated.

You may ask what alternative countries like Greece and Ireland had, and the answer is that they had and have no good alternatives short of leaving the euro, an extreme step that, realistically, their leaders cannot take until all other options have failed — a state of affairs that, if you ask me, Greece is rapidly approaching.

What Greece Means (Paul Krugman, New York Times)

Meanwhile…