Pakistan’s central bank kept interest rates unchanged for a second straight meeting, in line with economists’ forecasts, as the inflation rate slowed to a seven-month low.
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Athens, Greece (AHN) – Alcohol related diseases, such as liver cirrhosis are growing at an alarming rate and are affecting people at a younger age than in the past.
This news was released aat a conference of liver experts hosted by the European Association for the Study of the Liver medical professionals tasked with discussing practical solutions to combat alcohol-related illness and death.
Liver disease is the main health burden attributable to alcohol and Europe has the highest rate of alcohol consumption in the world.
One in fifteen adults suffers from serious health conditions because of alcohol consumption – making it the third largest cause of early death and illness after tobacco and high blood pressure
A key issue addressed at the conference was the increasing number of deaths due to liver disease resulting from daily or near-daily heavy drinking in the adult population, in addition to binge drinking in young people.
Daily drinking carries more than twice the risk of liver damage compared with intermittent drinking once or twice per week.
It is not just a health challenge either. The strong hold of the drinks industry in challenging recommendations from health experts in relation to the promotion of alcohol to the general public has been a significant barrier to change.
Professor Mark Thursz, EASL Vice-Secretary, said: “Clear messages around healthy drinking need to be developed and communicated to the public. The concept of responsible drinking can be dangerous if it refers only to the detrimental psychosocial effects (addiction, drink driving, disorderly behaviour), as drinking to levels that address these issues is still detrimental to the liver and people’s health.”
He believes this is why so many previous policies have failed.
Thursz goes on to say, “As one of Europe’s key health determinants, alcohol is under-addressed – particularly compared to smoking and obesity.”
Health officials agree that European Institutions need to support more comprehensive epidemiological research to establish and make aware to the public alcohol’s true burden on health.
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Buying a car in current scenario is not a tough job at all, especially when you have number of options available. But it can be difficult, if you are having bad credit score. Adverse credit history does not reflect the true character of a person and any one can get it intentionally or unintentionally. Now, lenders are offering bad credit car loans to fulfill the need of people looking to buy a car. With the help of money, borrowers can buy their favorite car without facing any problem. This loan has been introduced especially those people who had to face poor credit history due to minor mistake.
Chances that you will get you favorite car in spite of bad credit are extremely good with the help of bad credit car loans. Money is provided by banks, lenders, financial companies, credit unions etc. to purchase a car. This finance is available for consumers in two forms secured and unsecured loans with credit repair option. Yes, you got it correct, by paying the monthly payments on or before due date, you can improve the credit history very fast. As we all know that secured loans contain the high risk of property with low interest rate and unsecured loans do not contain any risk for borrowers at all.
It is advisable to go with unsecured bad credit loans, if you are seeking for money to buy a car. Borrowers can find it quiet expensive as far as APR and rate of interest is concerned. But, absence of collateral and any risk factor make it good option for people who already facing problem with credit rating. Not every lenders offer car loans, but you can find good number of available options on internet.
– Brian Lenihan will present a “draconian” budget at 3.45pm – Welfare cuts, income tax rises and steeper petrol duty expected ( 2.01pm ) – Tonight’s vote remains on a knife edge (8.30am) – Protesters have gathered in Dublin – Bank of Ireland’s cash machines suffer technical problem
4.14pm: We already knew that the minimum wage was being cut by one euro per hour. Leniham says that new minimum wage rate holders will not be caught up by his income tax changes, but will pay the social charge.
4.10pm: Now income tax , where Lenihan says the present system is no longer “fit for purpose”, with 45% of people not paying anything.
His solution — is to cut income tax bands and credits by 10%, and also cut private sector pension tax relief. The existing income levy and health levy will be scraped in favour of a single levy.
The PRSI social insurance rate (the equivalent of the UK’s National Insurance), will be increased for the self-employed and higher earning public servants, while the existing employee PRSI ceiling will be abolished.
Various measures are also promised to cut tax-avoidance by higher earners, but we’ll have to dig through the full statement to find them all, I think.
Lenihan says that by broadening the income tax base at both ends of the spectrum, it is possible to lower the overall burden while increasing the overall tax take.
4.06pm: Public sector pensioners are also taking a hit. Anyone receiving €12,000 or more per year will suffer a 4% cut, although those with smaller pensions will be exempt.
4.04pm: Confirmation too that the Taoiseach and his government is taking a pay cut. Brian Cowen (or rather his successor) will see his pay cut by €14k, while ministers will receive €10k less.
Following similar cuts in earlier budgets, this means that Taoiseach’s salary has shrunk by €90k in the last few years, Lenihan says.
4.01pm: Lenihan pays tribute to the outstanding work done by many civil servants (talking about their call to duty), but says that the public sector workforce will be cut over the next few years [that's the 24,500 four-year reduction announced last month]
He also confirms that new entrants will be hit with a 10% pay cut compared to incumbent workers.
4.00pm: Lenihan says that a new Work Placement scheme will create 5,000 places in public service, and also pledges more support to get people into work. An additional 15,000 activation placements for the unemployed will cost about €200m
He also pledges an extra €14m to fund higher fuel allowances though the winter.
3.58pm: As expected, child benefit is being slashed. It will fall by €10 per month for each child, with a further €10m cut for the third child.
Lenihan claims this will bring payments back to the levels seen in 2005 and 2006.
3.57pm: The state pension will be frozen next year, Lenihan says, while the working age payment will fall by 4%. He won’t commit to levels in future years, saying it depends on unemployment levels.
3.54pm: Lenihan continues…saying that his party (with the support of those in the opposition) had tried to spread the benefits of the boom across the population.
He points out that public spending and pensions increased significantly faster than the rate of inflation.
“Budget 2011 continues the task of bringing the cost of public services back to the level that can be financed in a stable fashion.”
3.50pm: Our actions to stabilise the public finances have made progress, Lenihan continues.
So why the need for the bailout? The banking sector, of course. Lenihan argues that without the support of the International Monetary Fund and the European Union there would have been doubts about the state’s ability to borrow and support a stable banking sector.
Lenihan admits that the measures he is about to announce will have a significant impact on people, but insists that “it is the government’s strong view that the economy can still grow while we make the adjustments in the National Recovery plan.”
That, you might say, is the €15bn question.
3.46pm: The speaker starts by reminding the Dáil that the Budget speech is confidential until it has been delivered (prompting much chortling, given how many of the measures seem to have been leaked to the lunchtime news programmes).
Lenihan starts by telling MPs that “This has been a traumatic and worrying time for people in our country”, who are worried about the implications of the €85bn IMF/EU bailout.
But he claims that the Irish economy is recovering, and returning to growth. From a drop of 7.6% in GDP last year, he predicts a small rise for 2010.
“The recovery is taking shape…led by exports,” Lenihan says, arguing that this will ultimately bring unemployment down to more acceptible levels.
3.45pm: Brian Lenihan has just taken his seat next to his leader, Brian Cowen, and the session is about to start…..
3.40pm: Just a few minutes until Lenihan starts to deliver the budget, and the noise outside the parliament is growing.
Green Party TD Paul Gogarty has just pledged that he and his colleagues will support the budget – calling it their “moral and patriotic duty”.
“We will do the right thing, come hell or high water.”
The Green, of course, are part of Brian Cowen’s coalition, but have now forced a general election early next year.
3.31pm: It’s emerged that the man arrested for driving a crane up to the Dublin parliament this morning (see 9.26am and 10.35am )is the same person who turned up with a cement mixer truck emblazoned with the words “Toxic Anglo Bank” in September.
Joe McNamara (41), has been charged with being in control of a vehicle which was deemed to be dangerous to the public, and remanded in custody until December 14. Reports suggest he has breached his bail conditions (which included not coming to the attention of the Garda again).
McNamara, a property developer, is said to owe Anglo Irish Bank €3.5m. He was charged with criminal damage following the cement mixer incident.
The Irish Times has some interesting details about today’s action; McNamara – who was allegedly wearing a builder’s hard hat and a yellow fluorescent coat – raised himself to a height in the cage, where he remained for more than an hour. During the incident he used a loudspeaker to play the hit single Poker Face by Lady Gaga and the theme from the spaghetti western The Good, The Bad And The Ugly .
3.10pm: The noise outside the parliament buildings has intensified in the last few minutes, with more people showing up to protest. Pots and pans are being clanked, and some people are setting off air horns.
Lisa O’ Carroll has been interviewing people at the scene (listen to the audio above)
More from Lisa:
The public are bracing themselves for severe cuts, but one of the many I spoke to earlier today (the last in this 4-minute long vox pop) says “we had a good party, we need to take the paracetemol to fix the hangover.” He didn’t want to be named, but said he had already seen his salary cut by between €4,000 and €5,000 over the last two budgets.
Another young woman, a student, said she wasn’t worried about college fees, but was concerned about community projects being in jeopardy and social welfare for those looking after dependents being cut.
One pensioner I spoke to outside the Dail said she wanted TD perks including pay for ‘clocking in’ to the building scrapped while another man sad he just wanted it all to be over. He said he was sick of the media coverage and just wanted to get on with life.
3.07pm: Brian Lenihan has just done the customary photocall with the Budget 2011. As in previous years, he posed with a CD version of the statement (photo coming soon).
It’s pretty icy in Dublin still, so the finance minister shimmied carefully down the steps of the parliament buildings, before thinking better of stepping onto the snowy grass. Not the time for a Kinnock-style tumble .
2.55pm: Prime minister Brian Cowen is facing his critics in the Dáil at Leader’s Questions. It’s been a ding-dong affair (the speaker has been hammering his bell like a toddler with a new rattle in a largely futile effort to maintain order). Eamon Gilmore, head of the Labour Party, accused Cowen of disastrous mismanagement of the economy – which has driven young people out of the country to seek opportunities in the US and Australia.
Cowen hit back, claiming that Labour would have made things even worse – and attacking its plan to cut spending by €4.5bn rather than €6bn:
If we don’t continue with the correction….and if we’d listened to you for the last few years… then the rate of correction and the impact on services we’d face in future would be even greater.
2.31pm: With just over an hour to go until the budget starts Henry McDonald is outside the gates of the Dáil, where there are rather more journalists than angry citizens:
The number of news crews from around the planet well outnumbers the trickle of protesters demonstrating against the austerity measures and the international bailout.
At the back of government buildings in central Dublin a vast array of barricades have been erected around the entrance to the Department of Finance. Meanwhile in Kildare a local business seeks to profit from the economic doom and gloom. “Le Petit Cafe” sandwich board is advertising delights such as Budget Brew and Austerity Soup .
Paddy Power is also trying to cash in on the budget controversy and has put up posters around Merrion Square with the prices of politicians who might be the next Irish Prime Minister. One poster reads “Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny 1/4″ and for the more adventurous punter Paddy Power offers up another poster with the unpopular finance minister Brian Lenihan at 16/1.
2.21pm: Time for a quick recap.
– Irish finance minister Brian Lenihan will deliver what is expected to be a “draconian” 2011 budget, starting at 3.45pm – Welfare cuts, income tax rises and steeper petrol duty expected ( 2.01pm ) – Tonight’s vote remains on a knife edge, with some independent MPs pledging support (8.30am) but others undecided ( 12.06pm ) – Protesters are already gathering in Dublin ( 12.44pm ), and one man has been arrested ( 10.35am ) – Bank of Ireland’s online banking system, and some cash machines, have stopped working due to a “technical problem” ( 12.23pm )
2.13pm: As if broken cash machines (see 12.23pm ) weren’t enough, Lisa O’Carroll tells me that four councils in Dublin have announced they may be cutting off water supplies from 7pm to 7am:
The councils are saying this isn’t due to the cuts, but because people have been running taps through the night to prevent pipes freezing during the cold snap.
2.07pm: On RTÉ’s Radio 1 Liveline show, presenter Joe Duffy has branded the avalanche of detail emerging about the budget as “budgileaks”…
2.01pm: More details of today’s budget are leaking out in Dublin.
RTE’s political correspondent Brian Dowling is reporting that politicians’ pay will be cut by 20% which would take Brian Cowen’s controversial salary down to the €200,000 mark. This is much more significant than previously thought.
Informed sources are also telling Dowling that the government will, against expectations, tackle “fat cat” pay in the semi-state sector, forcing through a €250,000 salary cap on chief executives who run businesses that are partly owned by the state.
There had been fears this would be challenged in the courts because it would constitute a change in contract but the word is the government feels, as it is the majority shareholder in the semi-state sector, it will be able to achieve this.
This will mean big cuts for the likes of Padraig McManus, chief executive of the Electricity Supply Board, who has a take-home package of more than €750,000 and about five or six others.
Other cuts being leaked this lunchtime include: – a 4% cut in public sector pensions above €12,000 – €0.04 per litre hike in the price of petrol – €0.02 per litre hike in the price of diesel – No change on cigarettes and alcohol – €10 and €20 cut in child benefit depending on number of children in family
1.30pm: And we’re back. Looking at the Bank of Ireland cashpoint situation, PhD student Edd Hind kindly got in touch over Twitter.
@edd_hind I can report Bank of Ireland cashpoint at the Student Union just gave me a tenner, but I am an Ulster Bank customer.
So Eric Cantona ‘s bank run revolution hasn’t found much support there, anyway.
My colleague in Paris, Angelique Chrisafis, has written more about King Eric’s big idea , and the way it received a predictably frosty response from France’s top politicians, and the media.
Le Monde’s Pierre-Antoine Delhommais was the most scathing, suggesting Cantona would hire a lorry to withdraw his own “sacks of cash”, as “one imagines he hasn’t worked for free for all these years, advertising the merits of Bic razors, Nike shoes, Partouche casinos, Neuf Telecom, Lipton Teas, the Renault Laguna or L’Oréal deodorants”.
12.44pm: People are continuing to gather outside the Dublin parliament, ready to vent their fury at their elected leaders. This just in from Lisa O’Carroll :
A small group of protesters are gathering outside government buildings.
One, Paul Harris from Sandymount in Dublin, said he wasn’t affiliated to any party but wanted to be a presence for the unemployed, for the families who are struggling to make ends meet, and the “thousands” he claimed have committed suicide since the crisis began
The Gardai have erected crowd barriers along the street but the miserable weather – rain is turning the snow into sludge – may keep people away.
Just taking a quick break, so do also check out the Irish Times’s live blog which just started up here, and RTÉ News’s own live coverage (they’re reporting that the crane used in this morning’s protest (see 10.25am ) has been hauled away.)
12.23pm: Bank of Ireland’s cash machines and online banking system have failed within the last couple of hours, leaving customers unable to access their funds.
A spokesperson said the fault lay with the bank’s internal system and that engineers are working to restore normal services. But the disruption has raised fears that the troubled bank might have ceased trading.
That seems most unlikely – Bank of Ireland is being recapitalised as part of the €85bn bailout, and private equity firm JC Flowers is also considering bidding for the company. But given recent speculation about bank runs , this is a very bad time for such a glitch to strike…
…assuming it is just a glitch, of course. Today has been designated as the global banking system’s “day of reckoning” by no lesser authority than Eric Cantona . The enigmatic footballing great had urged the public to empty their accounts on 7 December in a co-ordinated move to bring the financial system to its knees .
But look, it’s probably just a technical problem. Bank of Ireland’s shares are still trading (up 3.85% at €0.378).
12.06pm: With less than four hours to go until the budget begins, frantic discussions are still taking place behind the scenes. As mentioned earlier (see 8.30am ), the parliamentary mathematics is so tight that every vote is crucial.
RTE newsreader Bryan Dobson is reporting that Mattie McGrath, a rebel Fianna Fáil MP, has yet to make his mind up.
Of course, some members of the Dáil may simply want to hear exactly how severe the austerity measures are before deciding whether they can back them. Another independent TD, Noel Grealish of Galway West, has said this morning he will probably vote against the budget (but wants to see the details first)
11.58am: Other weaker members of the eurozone also saw the interest rate charged on their bonds rise today.
The yield on Spanish 10-year bonds jumped to 5.26% this morning, from 5.12% yesterday. The gap between Spanish and German yields has also widened (by 9 basis points to 243bp). Not a major move – traders say there’s a lot of tension in the market, while we wait to see whether the Europen Central Bank buys more government debt.
11.36am: In the financial markets, the euro has been rising today on optimism that the Irish budget will be passed. It’s gained nearly a cent against the dollar today, to $1.3366. The pound is trading around €1.1811 (making one euro worth 84.6p).
Ireland’s sovereign debt has come under a little more pressure this morning. The yield (or rate of return demanded by investors) on Irish 10-year bonds rose to 8.2% this morning, from 8.15% yesterday. That’s still comfortably below the 9% levels reached last month, though.
City analysts remain nervous about Ireland’s long-term economic changes. Is it really possible to slash so much spending, so quickly, without seriously eroding the chances of a solid recovery?
This is from Oscar Bernal of ING:
The vote for the budget is crucial since it is a prerequisite to the activation of the EU/IMF assistance mechanism. The 5.8% interest rate charged is on average significantly below market rates but remains relatively high. The scheme does not involve any writedowns on Irish debt for senior bondholders and the extra year granted to the Irish authorities to bring the deficit back to 3% of GDP might ease the adjustment pain somewhat.
The bleak economic outlook in Ireland for the next couple of years makes it uncertain as to whether Ireland is able to ensure the long-term sustainability of its public finances at current market rates or even at the EFSF rate.
While today’s vote might appease markets somewhat, the jury is still out on whether Ireland will be able to consolidate its public finances without having to undergo a debt restructuring in the coming years.
11.21am: Support for Fianna Fáil has plunged in recent months, so it appears likely that today’s budget will be Brian Lenihan’s last (at least for a while). Lenihan’s reputation has been savaged by the Irish economic crisis – yesterday the Financial Times awarded him the title of Europe’s worst finance minister (for the second year running).
Here’s a good profile from the Press Association’s Colm Kelpie :
Brian Lenihan’s political legacy will be forever intertwined with the spectacular collapse of the once booming Irish economy. The trained barrister took over the Finance brief from predecessor Brian Cowen as the country slid from boom to bust, overseeing three budgets in 18 months and the loss of the state’s hard-won economic sovereignty. Despite being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, he remained in office and is tipped as a future leadership candidate for the ruling Fianna Fáil party. But his support for bailing out the country’s sinking banks with taxpayers’ money while cutting services, hiking taxes and planning to slash the minimum wage has damaged his public credibility. As he put the final touches to the most feared Budget in Irish history, his reputation took another battering when the Financial Times rated him the worst Finance Minister in Europe. The newspaper – which also ranked him last in 2009 – said Mr Lenihan was overwhelmed by the crisis in the country’s banking system and the implosion of the economy. Unveiling Budget 2010, he gave an ill-judged upbeat assessment of the state’s finances, telling the Dail the country had turned a corner. The remark has come back to haunt him as the state is saddled with the highest Budget deficit in Europe and tied to an €85bn rescue deal from the International Monetary Fund/EU. And the government’s handling of bailout talks incurred public criticism, calls for resignations and warnings of distrust among voters after initially insisting there were no negotiations with the IMF before conceding a loan was on the cards and eventually applying for one. The Lenihans are political heavyweights in Ireland, with the late Brian Lenihan senior once a government minister, Tanaiste (deputy prime minister) and unsuccessful presidential candidate. Not since the 1980s has a Finance Minister faced such a daunting task of trying to stabilise the crumbling public finances while building confidence and restoring international credibility. Garret FitzGerald’s government spectacularly collapsed in 1982 after the then Fine Gael finance minister John Bruton’s budget, introduced to deal with another economic crisis, was thrown out in the Dáil. With a razor-thin parliamentary majority and a general election looming, that fateful defeat will no doubt have crossed Mr Lenihan’s mind as he prepared to unveil his latest austerity budget.
11.05am: Irish businesses which have managed to keep afloat through the financial crisis are hoping that tourism may provide a lift in 2011. More from Henry McDonald , out on the streets of Dublin:
Christophe’s restaraunt is the only surviving business in the Duck Lane complex close to Smithfield Square. Six other shops and enterprises have shut during the recession. Joe Forkan, the owner of Christophe’s today welcomed the news that the government is going to abolish its airport tax. Given that his restaraunt faces onto the Jameson’s Whiskey Distillery Museum he hopes that more tourists visiting the complex will boost his business next year.
“We are lucky that we have a loyal clientele from the law courts nearby,” he says.
“These austerity measures in the budget may make people spend even less than they did this year. But if the abolition of the airport tax leads to more tourists coming into the country there is some hope. A couple of British businessmen have bought an empty hotel around the corner and are turning it into budget accommodation. Hopefully between that and Jameson’s we can benefit from more tourists.”
10.38am: Breaking news from Brussels – the European Union has formally approved Ireland’s €85bn rescue package. It’s largely a procedural step, although a sudden change of heart would certainly have sparked a panic.
As well as giving a green light to the various loans and guarantees, the gathering of EU finance ministers (excluding Brian Lenihan, of course) also agreed to extend the deadline for Ireland to cut its deficit to 3% of GDP by a year, to 2015.
10.35am: Here’s a picture of the protester outside the Parliament buildings being brought down from his crane (shortly before he was arrested and taken away by police).
10.25am: Ireland correspondent Henry McDonald has been talking to people in Dublin ahead of the budget:
At the Capuchin Centre for the homeless and the poor in Dublin’s north inner city they fear the worst over the forthcoming cuts in today’s budget. Brother Kevin, one of the monks that runs the centre, says he hopes that its services to its clients – including free breakfast and lunches as well as food parcels – are not cut in the government’s financial programme for 2011.
One of Brother Kevin’s clients, Gerald Mulhern who comes originally from Belfast, says “this centre more than any other place in the city needs defending”. Unemployed for two years and currently homeless, Mulhern says he would not know what to do if the services, the monks and the lay volunteers working there were cut.
The centre is situated just around the corner from some of the most striking monuments to the failure of the Irish economy. In nearby Smithfield most of the luxury apartments built during the Celtic Tiger boom and priced at up to €1m now lie idle. Meanwhile in May’s Place a brand new gleaming glass-fronted building is surrounded by wire fencing. Not a single office in the Kings Building development is occupied.
Around the cobble-stoned Smithfield area (where much of the movie of the John Le Carre classic “The Spy Who Came In From The Cold” was shot) there is a new verb to describe the fate of the apartments and office blocks no one can afford to move into. They have been “Nama’d” – that is taken over by the state-run National Assets Management Agency.
Meanwhile hundreds of Garda Siochana officers have been drafted into central Dublin to protect the Irish parliament. A number of organisations opposed to the budget and the international bailout are planning protests at the gates of the Dail in Kildare Street later today.
Henry also reports that the demonstrator who turned up in a crane this morning (see 9.26am ) had been firing tennis balls “over the gates into the square leading up to the parliament building”.
10.15am: My colleague Lisa O’Carroll isn’t impressed by the suggestion that prime minister Brian Cowen might take a pay cut:
First it won’t affect Cowen – it’s an early Christmas gift for an opposition leader. Second, it isn’t a massive cut and the Taoiseach, whoever that will be, will still be one of the best-paid leaders in the world.
Maybe he was taking a leaf out of Gordon Brown’s book. He, if you remember, slashed his pay knowing he also was about to leave office, leaving David Cameron with a remuneration package down from £194,000 to £142,000.
If the Irish Times report is proved right later today, Cowen or his successor will still have a headline salary (without pension, car, accommodation etc) of €214,000.
More here .
10.03am: Today’s budget will be particularly harsh because the austerity plan is “front-loaded”, such that 40% – or €6bn – of the cutbacks are made in the first year.
Dermot O’Leary , an economist at Goodbody stockbrokers in Dublin, has predicted that the budget will include €2.1bn in current spending cuts, €1.8bn in capital spending reductions, and €1.4bn in higher taxation. Another €0.7bn would stem from various one-off elements.
9.52am: The broad scope of the austerity cutbacks was unveiled two weeks ago in the National Recovery Plan , which stated that Ireland would cut spending by €10bn over the next four years, and raise €5bn in taxes. So, we already know that 24,500 public sector jobs will be cut by 2014, VAT will rise in stages to 23%, the minimum wage is falling to €7.75 per hour, and both government pay and pensions will be reduced.
But we don’t know the details of how €2.8bn will be cut from the welfare budget, or how an extra €1.9bn will be raised in income tax.
On welfare , both child benefit and income support payments are expected to be cut, while the cost of family medicines will probably rise.
There certainly appears to be scope to reform the income tax system. At present, around 45% of people avoid paying income tax at all, while 60% of all income tax is paid by 8% of the population. There is speculation that the duties levied on alcohol, cigarettes and gasoline will all be raised sharply. There was also talk over the weekend that Lenihan will cut ministerial salaries by 10%-15%, and maybe also impose cuts on “semi-state” company bosses.
9.26am: We’re hearing that protests have already begun in Dublin outside the Irish parliament buildings.
A crane plastered with anti-government protest placards was driven up to Kildare Street and parked before dawn this morning. The slogans include “Anglo Toxic Bank”, and attacks on the generous pensions that government ministers can look forward to.
The crane’s arm was fully extended, with a man sitting in the cage at the top of the crane. According to local reports he played music through loud speakers and “has thrown a number of tennis balls to the ground below”.
The control panel had been sealed off, but the Irish Journal says the Garda have now managed to bring the protester back to earth, and promptly placed him in a squad car.
9.14am: One of the biggest fears for Ireland is that many of its young people will be forced to leave the country and seek opportunities overseas.
The National Youth Council of Ireland believes there is a huge risk of a “mass exodus” which would make it much harder for Ireland to recover from the crisis. It published the results of a poll this morning which found that 70% of jobseekers were likely to emigrate within the next year if economic prospects do not improve.
That would mean 58,000 people betwen 18 and 25 leaving the country, warned assistant director James Doorley, who urged Lenihan to offer some support to the young unemployed today:
The government has introduced some useful and good measures in the last two years, such as the free college places programme, the Labour Market Activation Fund and the Work Placement Programme … However, despite these measures one in three young men are unemployed, thousands have left and thousands are planning on leavin. The scale, speed and imagination of what has been introduced to date is not sufficient.
We want to see measures that will give jobseekers hope and will allow young people make a contribution and up-skill so that they are well placed to return to work when the economy picks up.
We are going to have a mass exodus unless we have some stimulus in education, training and work experience programmes.
8.57am: Sticking with the newspapers, the Irish Independent also reports that ministers will show solidarity with the Irish people and drink from the well of austerity.
Up to a point, anyway. Ministers have apparently decided to scrap one of the government’s private jets. There was quite a row this summer about how these aeroplanes were being used as a “personal taxi service” , sparing politicians the inconvenience of relying on commercial flights.
Ministers will also waive their automatic right to a state car, and rely instead on a pool of vehicles. This could be good practice for life in opposition.
The Irish Times is predicting that today’s budget will be “draconian”, and that Cowen and his team will accept pay cuts.
Again, this follows outrage over the pay packet banked by the Irish leadership, with Cowen reportedly the best-paid politician in Europe with a salary of €285,583.
8.30am: It appears that Fianna Fáil have managed to persuade Michael Lowry and Jackie Healy-Rae , the two independent members of the Dáil, to support the budget – in return for a last-minute package of concessions.
The Irish Independent is reporting that Lowry and Healy-Rae extracted “pledges on local roads, rural hospitals and a number of other pet schemes” in return for their votes.
Healy-Rae has also been claiming credit for reducing the overall increase in college fees. The rumour is that the planned €500 increase in the student service charge will not apply to families who already have a child in college.
Healy-Rae and Lowry are in a deliciously powerful position – if they support Brian Cowen’s coalition, this gives the Taoiseach a total of 82 votes, versus the opposition’s 80.
8.28am: Lenihan is scheduled to stand up in the Dáil to deliver the budget at 3.45pm. MPs get their first opportunity to give their verdict this evening, when they vote on changes to excise duties and sales taxes. A second vote will take place on Thursday, with two more due in early 2011.
The Fianna Fáil-led coalition only holds a tiny majority , and is reliant on suppport from independent MPs. A defeat this evening would sink the budget, bring down the government and trigger an immediate general election.
Professor John Fitzgerald of the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) has predicted that there is an 80-90% chance that the budget will be passed. He told Bloomberg this morning that it was “crucial for Ireland’s future” that the measures were approved.
Fitzgerald also argued that opposition parties will be keen for Fianna Fáil to shoulder as much of the blame as possible before they lose (as appears highly likely) next year’s general election.
Lenihan is also expected to deliver a statement on Ireland’s banking sector early this afternoon.
8.20am: First the bailout, now the budget. Today the Irish people will learn the price of the €85bn rescue package that was agreed last month , when finance minister Brian Lenihan presents the 2011 budget in Dublin’s Dáil.
It is already being billed as the most painful budget in living memory. With austerity top of the agenda , Lenihan will announce €6bn worth of swingeing spending cuts and tax rises this afternoon. Welfare payments will be slashed, and the income tax take is expected to increase significantly.
With Ireland already suffering from the bitterly cold weather (it’s minus one degree celsius in County Kildare right now), it’s going to be a bleak day for many in the Republic.
We’ll also be watching events in Brussels, where Lenihan’s fellow finance ministers are holding talks on the ongoing eurozone debt crisis, and in Greece, where the International Monetary Fund are arriving. Protests are expected… Ireland bailout Financial crisis Ireland Euro IMF Economics Currencies European Union Graeme Wearden guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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It may be time when one faces the financial crises and need urgent cash amount to get rid of the financial disparities that pop up all of a sudden. The best way to get rid of such problem is to apply for instant same day loans. These are short term loans and are availed without nay tedious procedures. One can easily get these loans approved by applying through internet sitting at home or office. The process is very simple. The loan application is approved in least possible time maximum of a day. Thus it is easy to repay the dues as soon as possible.
Instant same day loans have certain criteria for getting the loan sanctioned. Thus to grab the loan faster certain conditions are to be fulfilled:
Applicant must be 18 years and above *
* must have citizenship of USA
* Must be employed with monthly income at least $1000
* must have current saving account and id proof
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Are you looking for taking a loan for your business undertakings or for your personal undertakings? Then why go for a long term loan? Why not for a short term loan? Long term loans are big in amount and it takes months and years to repay them with a high rate of interest, why do you need to keep that burden for so long? Instead go for short term loans.
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Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (AHN) – The new citizenship test introduced by Ottawa on March 15 is tougher than the older exam. As a result, the passing rate was only 70 percent.
Because of the low passing rate, the federal government introduced a revised test on Oct. 14, which upped the passing rate to 80 percent. However, it is still a relatively low rate.
The test has 20 multiple choice questions which examinees are given 30 minutes to answer. The exam is available in English and French. The pre-March exam placed a 60 percent passing rate, which meant only 12 correct answers out of 20 questions are needed to obtain Canadian citizenship. The post-March exam upped the passing rate to 75 percent or 15 correct answers out of 20 questions.
Under the old system people who did not pass were referred to a citizenship judge who determined the worthiness of an immigrant to gain Canadian citizenship. In 2008-2009, 9,500 failing examines were sent to a citizenship judge for about an hour.
Because of the tougher exams, which could flood the citizenship judges with people who didn’t pass, the new rules allow those who failed to repeat the test instead.
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DUBLIN (AP) – An Irish government minister said Saturday he expects an agreement within the next 24 hours on an EU-IMF bailout loan for Ireland worth approximately $115 billion, but he rejected reports that the aid could come with a punitively high interest rate. Communications Minister Eamon Ryan said all sides in the 10-day-old financial rescue talks in Dublin want at least “an outline agreement” before markets open Monday. Ireland has been priced out of bond markets and needs a loan to fund its annual deficits and its cash-strapped banks. But many analysts doubt that the country will be able to afford the repayments on an international bailout unless the interest rates are low. European Union diplomats confirmed that the finance ministers of the 16-nation eurozone, which includes Ireland, would discuss the emerging EU-IMF loan for the Irish at a hastily arranged meeting in Brussels on Sunday. EU spokesman Bernard Bulcke said finance ministers from the 11 other EU members – including Britain, Denmark and Sweden, which have pledged their own bilateral loans to Dublin – would join the Brussels meeting later Sunday in a sign that a more comprehensive negotiated deal could be on the table. Speaking to Irish state broadcasters RTE, Ryan rejected reports carried by RTE and Dublin newspapers that at least part of the bailout would come with an interest rate of 6.7 percent. “I think that figure was inaccurate. And it was unfortunate because it did scare a hell of a lot of people,” Ryan said. He declined to speculate what the average interest rate would be, but said it would be nearer the 5.2 percent average being paid by Greece for its $150 billion EU-IMF bailout in May. Ryan said whatever terms were agreed “have to make sense for us, so that we’re able to pay it back.” A second government minister, Noel Dempsey, sounded less confident of any announcement Sunday. “Our mandate is to get the very best deal, one that will allow us to get out of the present situation,” said Dempsey, the transport minister. “It’s more important to get it right than to get it quick.
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Loans are formulated to offer financial assistance to the people so that they can meet their personal demands in an easy way irrespective of their financial limitations. For the unemployed individuals many loan schemes are tailored. But the bad credit loans for unemployed carry some exceptional features. This loan scheme offers financial aid to unemployed individuals who had a past bad credit history or currently suffering from poor credit tags. It helps them to deter the unwanted adverse credit history tags such as: CCJs, IVAs, late payments, arrears etc. and improve their credit rating.
Available in two forms: secured and unsecured loans, the bad credit loans for unemployed are all meant to prop the unemployed individuals in realizing their demands. Secured unemployed bad credit loans are collateral related loans and allow the applicants to access huge loan amount between £10,000 and £75,000. The repayment tenure of this loan extends from 10-25 years and helps the borrower in meeting miscellaneous demands. Unsecured unemployed bad credit loans are collateral free loans and formulated for the individuals who are reluctant or unable to pledge collateral for a loan. The loan amount that can be availed under this loan scheme ranges from £1,000 up to £25,000 with short reimbursement tenure that extends from 1-10 years.
Lenders in the market offer the loan at highly competitive rate of interest. The rate of interest of this loan varies from one to another lender. The best exercise to find a lender offering reasonable rate of interest is by collecting and comparing the loan quotes of different lenders. A bad credit should always opt for the lower rate of interest or else the repayment burden will increase.
To approve the bad credit loans for unemployed the feasible way is to apply online. Online gives you the advantage to approve the loan from any location and following less documentation process. The borrower can also meet miscellaneous personal demands with the help of this loan.
The increase in South Africa’s consumer price index (CPI) was 3.4% in October compared to a year ago, Statistics South Africa says.
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