Economy
“Child Benefit keeps us off the breadline for one week in every month”
A SURVEY by the National Women’s Council of Ireland entitled "The Importance of Child Benefit for Parents" in which 66.6% of respondents said that child benefit is a critical part of the family income.
Christmas bonus, “Santa always gets me stuff”
the Socialist spoke to ROBERT KEANE, an unemployed construction worker from Blarney, Co Cork, about the cancellation of the Christmas bonus and the threat of cuts to the basic rate of social welfare.
80th anniversary of the Wall Street Crash
Scant attention has been paid to the 80th anniversary of the October 1929 Wall Street Crash. Preoccupied with their own present devastating global crisis, the moneybags, the capitalists, can hardly repeat their theme of yesterday – “it can never happen again” – when dealing with 1929. How much of it really has happened again? And what are the underlying causes of today’s crisis?
NAMA – Multi-billion corporate welfare
ON 16 September Fianna Fail’s Brian Lenihan is set to tell the Dail the price he intends to pay for the banks’ toxic loans. The figure is expected to be more than €50 billion. It could be as high as €70 billion.
This is a truly monumental bailout for the banks. The NAMA bailout is likely to be more than ten times the size of the entire “menu” of cuts proposed by An Bord Snip.
An Bord Slash Nua
An Bord Snip Nua, headed by the neo-liberal economist Colm McCarthy, has given the government a vast menu of potential cuts from which to choose for this December’s budget. The target is to cut €5.3 billion a year from public expenditure. STEPHEN BOYD analyses the situation.
NAMA – the Biggest Rip Off of all
THE GOVERNMENT has finally come out with more details about how its National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) is going to operate.
The proposed NAMA will buy, with government bonds, some 10,000 loans (half of which are behind in their payments and growing) and “assets” worth €90 billion off the banks at a “discount” (to be decided - but the figure of €20 billion is being bandied about).
Oppose an Bord Snip’s attacks on our living standards
The innocuously named An Bord Snip Nua report which has just been published contains a menu of vicious cutbacks and job losses aimed at working people, the unemployed and their families.
Socialist Party Condemns An Bord Snip’s Viscious Report
The "An Bord Snip" report has outlined a menu of vicious cuts and job losses aimed at working people and the unemployed. The government’s plan to slash the living standards of workers and the unemployed and destroy our health and education services must be opposed.
Based on a press release of Joe Higgins MEP
Socialism – the alternative to the failed market
By Kevin McLoughlin
SOCIALIST POLICIES are needed to solve the economic crisis and its devastating effects on the living standards and lives of ordinary people.
Socialist policies are relevant to the key problems facing people today, the draconian pay cuts, the housing crisis and looming mortgage crisis, the vicious cutbacks in health and education, and crucially the emergence of mass unemployment.
The tax hikes in the budget represent a universal pay cut and are part of an overall desire of the government and bosses to slash general wage levels by up to 20%. They are intent on imposing a race to the bottom. The Quick Service Food Alliance, which is made up of the main fast (bad) food outlets, are attacking some of the lowest paid workers, demanding that they give up payments for Sunday working etc. The minimum wage is also being attacked and undercut by bosses.
Great Gas Give-away
Tax hikes and cuts while government gives away €540 billion for free!
By Paul Murphy
WHILE THE government puts the boot into ordinary people in another vicious budget, the giveaway of billions of euro of gas continues.
Figures from the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural resources suggest that around €540 billion of our natural resources will be given away to multinational companies over the coming years. This is because deals worked out in the 1980s and ‘90s between multinational oil companies and ministers in Haughey’s government are now being implemented by Fianna Fail and the Greens.
