Politicians have crib sheets to guide them through awkward questions on the doorsteps. So to arm voters, here are some figures to hit back with
The banks
€60bn - The size of the black hole at Irish banks after their losses.
€30bn - The amount the State paid through Nama for 11,000 property loans, face value €71bn.
€100bn - What Anglo Irish Bank chairman Alan Dukes believes it could cost to clean up the banks in full.
€29.3bn - The cost of bailing out Anglo Irish Bank, which is to be wound down. (This could rise by €5bn if property values haven’t recovered in 10 years).
€7.2bn - Amount the Government has pumped into Allied Irish Banks, taking almost outright ownership. AIB must raise €4.7bn more in the next bailout (postponed until after the election) by This is also likely to come from the State.
€85bn - Cost of the financial-aid package agreed with the European Union and International Monetary Fund.
Sources: Department of Finance, Financial Regulator, Central Bank, memorandum of understanding with the EU-IMF and the National Asset Management Agency
Health
569 - Number of patients on trolleys and chairs in emergency departments on January 5th.
47,587 - Number of patients waiting for elective procedures at the end of November.
€1.4bn - Amount being slashed from the health budget between now and 2014.
€322,000 - Salary paid to the HSE’s chief executive Cathal Magee.
45 - Percentage hike in cost of some VHI premiums this year. Aviva is increasing the cost of its policies by 14 per cent.
€0 - Amount fourth year student nurses will be paid for nine-month work placements by 2015.
17,354 - Numbers of staff in management/admin grades in the HSE at the end of November.
1,045
Number of hospital beds that were closed at the end of October.
536
Number of delayed discharge patients in acute hospital beds at the end of October.
Sources: HSE, Department of Health, Comptroller and Auditor General, Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, the National Recovery Plan
Economy
1 in 7 - Number of jobs lost since employment peaked in the Irish economy in 2007.
1 in 7 - Proportion of labour force unemployed at the beginning of 2011.
€118bn - Value of Ireland’s exports of goods and services in the first nine months of 2010 – an all-time record.
€3.5bn - Amount spent on servicing the national debt last year, a 133 per cent increase on 2008.
€21,000 - Amount of national debt for every man, woman and child in Ireland.
€99.6bn - Amount to be repaid in all mortgages outstanding in December 2010, down from a peak of €127bn in May 2008.
€94.6bn - Amount of households’ deposits in Irish banks
Sources: CSO; Central Bank Of Ireland; NTMA
Education
24 - Percentage of 15-year-olds who are effectively illiterate.
17 - Ireland’s current ranking in international league tables on literacy.
5 - Ireland ’s ranking in the same table 10 years ago.
100,000 - Number of primary- school children in classes of over 30 pupils.
60 - Number earning more than €150,000 per year in the education sector.
48 - Percentage of maths teachers at second level who have no qualification in the subject.
Number of teachers fired for underperformance by the Department of Education.
30 of 34 - Ireland’s rank in international league tables on education spending.
Sources: OECD, Department of Education and Skills, the Higher Education Authority, The Irish Times Feeder School List 2010.
Social Policy
439,200 - The number of people on the live register claiming unemployment benefits.
13.4 - Percentage of people unemployed – up from 3.7 per cent in 2000.
100,000 - Number of people forecast to emigrate between April 2010 and April 2012.
€188 - Weekly jobseekers’ allowance paid to those aged 25 years or over.
€8 - Weekly cut in the disability allowance and blind pension in the budget. They are now worth €188.
€120,000 - Value of Mary Harney’s annual TD and ministerial pension. She also receives a pension lump sum of €160,000, a termination lump sum of about €17,000 and monthly Oireachtas termination payments over the next 12 months worth another €66,900.
Sources: Central Statistics Office, Dept of Social Protection, ESRI and The Irish Times
