Madam, – Is it not about time the media bashing of shareholders over taxpayers ceased? Quite a lot – if not all – ordinary small shareholders in the two large banks are taxpayers too. I have a number of Bank of Ireland shares that still are in the negative for me, and I also pay tax through the nose.
And, with most private pensions in the private sector down 40 per cent or more, pitching pension funds and shareholders against taxpayers is the same as pitching ordinary people against themselves. If we are to convince people to take out pensions, we need to convince them that their money in the pension fund is safe into the future and will grow.
Think about it. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – If the sole objective of Nama is to restore liquidity to the markets, specifically, to get banks lending again to SMEs, big business and even households, can someone please explain why Irish Nationwide Building Society is included in the scheme?
If lending to Irish businesses is the top priority, and we are assured this is not a bailout for either banks or developers, why shouldn’t Irish Nationwide pay the price for its own recklessness?
Irish Nationwide’s loan book has revealed that it is almost exclusively involved in property deals, yet Nama is willing to devote almost 20 per cent of its resources or €8 billion to propping it up.
It is unlikely to play a sufficiently significant role in the rehabilitation of the Irish economy to justify the €8 billion price tag.
If the Government is thinking of creating a third force in Irish banking, wouldn’t any new entity be far better off without Irish Nationwide? – Yours, etc,
Madam, - It is hoped that Nama will solve Ireland’s economic problems. But I continue to be pessimistic while those with an interest in a return to the boom of prior years refer to houses as “units”.
It is this focus on mass production of “units” that got us to where we are today. – Yours, etc,