RADIO REVIEW:LOOKING ON the bright side, at least no one can accuse the middle classes of being in denial anymore. If only the same could be said for the Government.
On Drivetime(RTÉ Radio One, weekdays) taxation lawyer Suzanne Kelly said the middle classes were now "punch drunk" and, worse, the tax take this year will be €4 billion lighter than the Government estimates. The unshakeable Joan Burton, who was on multiple radio programmes with her case study of a couple on €60,000 a year with two kids being hit for €4,000 a year, called it "the budget from hell". Hot enough for ya? Philip Boucher-Hayes said the Drivetimepanel had predicted this emergency budget. "Almost six months ago they told him so," he said before reeling back the months. Kelly said at the time, "Not bold enough, could do better." Economist Alan Ahearne said, "This year's is ouch, next year's is ouch-ouch."
Ivan Yates said, "This budget won't work. There will be a bigger budget deficit." Mystic Meg said, "The middle classes will once again feel the pain tooooo." Okay, I made that last one up. Mary Wilson wanted Dan O'Brien, who was on the phone from the Economist Intelligence Unit in London, to get out his magic globe and make another forecast about how the next three to six months will pan out. Wisely, O'Brien wasn't about to be forced into such grand predictions. "The most important opinion anywhere is those people who lend to governments," he said, "and there has been a sell-off of Irish Government debt." Never a good sign. "The bad news is that things do not look good internationally," he added. And the good news? There wasn't any, I'm afraid. Montrose's very own Mystic Meg, George Lee, showed characteristic restraint on Wednesday's Morning Ireland(RTÉ Radio One, weekdays). "It's like a bomb has gone off," he said. "The economy and public
finances have been ruined by excesses of people in the past and bad economic management.
” But when he mentioned the words “property” and “excess” in the same sentence, it was Áine Lawlor who nearly blew up, saying that many people wanted to get a foot on the property ladder, not speculate.
“Yes, but George, they’re all getting slagged off for that now . . . They’re being criticised now for having gone out and bought a house,” Lawlor said. “Who?” Lee asked, bluntly. “People!” Lawlor replied.
On The Breakfast Show(Newstalk 106-108, weekdays) the Minister for the defence Willie O'Dea said, "The Government promised this budget would be fair, but nobody promised that it was going to be easy."
After we’ve drawn out the bad debts from banks can we try drawing out the condescension from our Ministers? He went on, “The alternative would be pain on a scale unimaginable in the years ahead where we’d lose control of our own destiny and other people would be in here to run the economy.”
Clare Byrne added, “The IMF.” Well, he wasn’t talking about the opposition.
La Burton was on the blower next, still talking about that middle-class couple with two kids, who are reeling from increases in their various levies, probable cut in their early childhood supplement and on a fixed mortgage rate having bought their house 10 years ago. She said the “saddest part” of the budget was that the tax increases were not going to build better schools or hospitals.
“Unfortunately, the higher taxes are going to go into this bank rescue,” she said. And, of course, she was absolutely right. In fact, it is heartbreaking when you think about it.
On Wednesday's News At One(RTÉ Radio One, weekdays) business correspondent David Murphy was speculating about the great €90 billion question, the ultimate price the Government will put on the land and development loans to be taken over by the National Asset Management Agency.
Murphy said the agency will want to pay as little as it can for these assets, especially in a falling market. “There’s going to be an awful lot of haggling because the banks are going to want to get as much money as they can.” It’s nice to know that some things never change.