AIB - Allied Irish Burglars!

Todays Irish Independent has reported that AIB will pay out around €40 million in bonuses! 

This is an outrage - regardless of the fact that this was a bonus deferred from 2008, and AIBs hand seem to be tied following legal action, the execs of AIB are robbing the Irish tax payers!!!!

We are constantly being told that we are paying for the benefits cheats! Well, this is just as bad. On average the execs will receive €16,000. There was one exec, (the first to take legal action) forced the bank to pay €161,000 - one hundred and sixty one thousand of our money is being paid to one person. 

The IDA are reported as saying "if the IDA had that sort of money to repair the country's tarnished reputation on the international scene" ... the Irish people's income is being slashed under the budget, whilst these execs are being paid these bonuses. Not even in the private sector does shareholders get paid dividends until a certain amount has been put in reserves. 

AIB has been bailed out by the Irish taxpayer to the tune of €3.5bn and this is expected to be much larger. AIB have been set a target to raise €5.3bn in capital, which is thought to be very unlikely. So I say again, why are these bonuses being paid out. The Government and their budget are a farce if they exempt the very people that are being paid these ridiculous amounts from the €250,000 pay cap.

And NAMA! The National Asset Management Agency - the one that buys all the bad debt, and the money they spend may never be recouped.  

  

John Dick

Where we are so far...

The problem really with the banks was their criteria, or lack there of, of lending money. People were being offered loans regardless of whether they were eligible. Years ago you could only get a mortgage at 2x or 2.5x your salary but now the banks were giving mortgage at 4x and 5x times your salary. AIB and Bank of Ireland, the two biggest banks in the country knew they couldn't or wouldn't be allowed to fail, because the Irish economy would be unable to function.

That is why the Irish Government said they would cover all the bad debt in the country, just to make sure these banks did not fail. But what they were not counting on was the property developers. Millions, even billions of euros was pumped into the market, and with it rose the amount of unsecured debt in this country.

But its not completely the banks fault, is it?

What about the estate agents that were valuing the houses on the market??? Were they irresponsible or careless in their responsibilities of valuing houses in the way they did? Were they being speculative  ??

People are calling for the Government of Ireland to resign - but do they know what the others can offer. It is plain and simple. All parties should be publishing economic stimulus manifestos and outline in it their course of action and set down exactly how they are going to deliver it.

Introduction

I have often thought why do people write blogs. Then I watched a movie about a blogger. So I thought, why don't I try it? I have decided my purpose for this blog will be to look at Ireland's economic recovery.