Dick Spring defends €59k salary for 60 days work as a Public Interest Director
Former Tánaiste Dick Spring, who represents the taxpayer on the board of AIB, has defended his salary as “reasonable”.
Mr Spring is a public interest director at the bank and was paid €59,000 for 60 days work last year.
He also receives one of the largest state pensions of more than €121,000.
The former Labour Party leader said the pay is appropriate for the work he does and that he has turned down higher paying jobs.
Mr Spring said: “My pension as a former deputy, which you will be entitled to in time, and as a former minister you will achieve a ministerial pension if you enter ministerial office, and I think you will be perfectly entitled to it.
“There is another way of looking at this, I have turned down numerous invitations to take up other positions which would be equally, if not more lucrative, than working for Allied Irish Bank, I have turned them down.”
Meanwhile, the Government nominee to the board of AIB has said there will be “no divine mercy” when it comes to dealing with homeowners in arrears.
Michael Somers has told the Oireachtas Finance Committee that while people won’t be thrown out on the streets, this is an issue that will have to be dealt with.
Promise to ‘share the pain’ not delivered by Ireland's politicians
In the run-up to the Budget there were lots of promises that politicians would “share the pain”. But Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin instead announced minor cuts, such as halving the allocation of free Oireachtas envelopes, the receipting of all constituency office expenses and a 10pc cut to the allowance paid to party leaders and Independent TDs.
Although no figures were provided, a rough calculation suggests these changes could save €3m per year at best.
But there was no reference to how much of a budget would be provided for running the Dail and Seanad.
It turns out that Coalition TDs and senators are going to award themselves an annual average of €108m before they go on their Christmas holidays.
It would be ridiculous to claim that a bigger hit to the Dail and Seanad budgets could have delivered the same savings as the child benefit cut, which is bringing in €140m, and the respite care grant cut that is worth €26m. But providing an annual budget of €108m at a time of economic crisis undermines the Government’s claims that the Budget was “tough but fair”.
The hedge clippers have been used instead of the chainsaw.
Ireland passes law to bolster housing market
Ireland’s Parliament passed a sweeping new law on Wednesday that could let thousands of borrowers reduce the amounts they owe on their mortgages.
The impact of the so-called personal insolvency bill, which overhauls several aspects of Ireland’s consumer debt laws, will be closely watched in other countries still grappling with housing busts.
The bill contains a ground breaking measure that would let stressed borrowers work with their banks to write down the value of their mortgages. The intent is to make the loans more affordable and avoid a wave of foreclosures.
In America and Europe, officials have generally shied away from policies that would make mortgage write-downs a major part of efforts to clean up their housing messes.
In a news release, Ireland’s Department of Justice and Equality, which handled the legislation, said the bill was “a fundamental part of the government’s strategy to return this country to stability and economic growth.”
The department acknowledged that the part of the bill that could lead to write-downs was unorthodox, saying it introduced “a concept unique in international insolvency law.”
The law, however, may not translate that readily to the United States.
There have been very few foreclosures in Ireland. The government owns large stakes in the biggest mortgage banks, and officials instructed the banks to refrain from repossessing large numbers of homes. As a result,uncertainty hangs over struggling households and weighs on the banks. The new bill aims to resolve that limbo.
Banks are expected to work with borrowers to make their mortgages payable. Where deals are possible, the borrower and the bank will be on a much more certain footing. Where there is too much debt, the banks will have more leeway to foreclose.
Nearly 18 percent of Irish mortgages on first homes were in default at the end of September, according to the Central Bank of Ireland. Ireland has nearly $150 billion of mortgage debt on first homes. Defaults are also high on mortgages taken out on investment properties, a big part of Ireland’s housing market.
Though the new law was constructed carefully to avoid unintended circumstances, it still carries significant risks.
It could prompt borrowers to default even if they can afford to repay the loan. That could lead to unexpected losses for Ireland’s banks, which could undermine their ability to finance a recovery. In a letter in September, Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, expressed concern about the potential costs the bill could place on Ireland’s banks.
The banks could still decline mortgage write-downs even when they may help borrowers. As the law is written, a majority of creditors have to agree to a write-down. Consumer advocates have criticized this part of the bill, saying it tips the balance of power in favor of the banks.
Alan Shatter, Ireland’s minister of justice, responded to those concerns on Wednesday. In the department’s news release, he said, “The reality is that it is in the best interests of both debtors and creditors to seek to conclude an acceptable and workable bilateral arrangement.”
Ireland continues to have highest birth rate in the European Union
Ireland continues to have the highest birth rate in the European Union.
More than 74,000 babies were born in the Republic in 2011, a rate of 16 births per 1,000 of population.
The annual perinatal report from the ESRI (Economic and Social Research Institute) shows that a third of newborns were to single mothers.
Almost a quarter of births were to women born outside the country, compared to 16% in 2004.
The report also indicates that 40% of babies were born to first-time mothers, with an average age of 29.
Breastfeeding rates are low. Just 40% of Irish babies are breastfed, compared to more than 75% of babies born to mothers from Europe and Australia.
Almost 29% of women giving birth were aged 35 years or older, and 2% of women giving birth were aged 19 years or less.
US travellers pick Ireland as top destination
The magazine asked 28,000 of its business and luxury traveller readers to select their favourite destination, airline and other travel-related products and services.
Alison Metcalfe, above right pic. the tourism Ireland’s Vice President of Marketing in the US, said: “It is really important to make the island of Ireland stand out from other destinations – so this award is good news indeed, particularly as we prepare to kick off our extensive 2013 promotional drive.”
Tourism Ireland said 2012 looks set to be one of the strongest years ever for visitors from North America to Ireland, since the previous high of 2007, when we welcomed over one million visitors.
A new three-year plan – “Make Ireland Jump Out” – will be rolled out in the US in 2013. It aims to increase the number of American visitors by twenty per cent between 2013 and 2015 and to win a greater share of all travel by Americans to Europe.
