State paid €9bn interest on borrowings to bailout banks

C&AG calculates the total cost of bank bailout for the State has been €60 billion to date

The additional state borrowing undertaken as part of the bank bailout has already cost the state almost €9 billion to service, according to the report of the Comptroller &Auditor General.

This cost largely offsets all the income which the state received from the banks in return for giving them the guarantee.

The C&AG calculates that the total cost of the bailout has been €60 billion so far for the State.

Against this it offsets the value the State is attributing to its remaining holdings in the banks of around €17 billion, giving a net figure of €43 billion.

In addition it says that additional cost of servicing the national debt associated with the bailout will be between €0.85 billion and €1.7 billion per annum.

The calculations by the C&AG of the costs incurred from servicing the bank bailout debt provides new information on the cost of rescuing the banks.

As well as additional money borrowed by the State, the figures include the return which would have been expected from funds in the National Pension Reserve Fund, which were diverted into recapitalising the banks.

Over €22 billion of the State funds invested in the banks came from the NPRF.

On the plus side of the ledger, the State has recouped over €5 billion from selling stakes in the banks. Also, the figures do not include an expected surplus from the winding up of IBRC, or a surplus of around €1 billion now expected form the winding up of Nama.

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has said he believes that the State will recoup all the money put in to the three remaining banks, but not the €36 billion spent on Anglo and Irish Nationwide, now merged into IBRC.

Achieving this would require a higher return than currently counted in the state books for the sale of AIB and the expected returns from IBRC and Nama to come through.

Cliff Taylor

Oughterard Galway This Evening

Real Irate letter to the Irish Prime Minister (Brilliant)

Dear Mr. Kenny

Please find below my suggestion for fixing the Irish economy.

Instead of giving billions of pounds to banks that will squander the

money on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, use the following plan.

You can call it the Patriotic Retirement Plan:

There are about 400 thousand people over 50 in the work force.

Pay them a £1 million each severance for early retirement with the

following stipulations:

1) They MUST retire.

400 thousand job openings - unemployment fixed

2) They MUST buy a new car.

400 thousand cars ordered - Car Industry fixed

3) They MUST either buy a house or pay off their mortgage - Housing Crisis fixed

4) They MUST send their kids to school/college/university - Crime rate fixed

5) They MUST buy €100 WORTH of alcohol/tobacco a week .....

And there's your money back in duty/tax etc

It can't get any easier than that!

P.S. If more money is needed, have all members of the Dail pay back

their falsely claimed expenses and second home allowances

If you think this would work, please forward to everyone you know.

Also;

Let's put the pensioners in jail and the criminals in a nursing home.

This way the pensioners would have access to showers, hobbies and walks.

They'd receive unlimited free prescriptions, dental and medical

treatment, wheel chairs etc and they'd receive money instead of paying

it out.

They would have constant video monitoring, so they could be helped

instantly, if they fell, or needed assistance.

Bedding would be washed twice a week, and all clothing would be ironed

and returned to them.

A guard would check on them every 20 minutes and bring their meals and

snacks to their cell.

They would have family visits in a suite built for that purpose.

They would have access to a library, weight room, spiritual

counselling, pool and education.

Simple clothing, shoes, slippers, PJ's and legal aid would be free, on request.

Private, secure rooms for all, with an exercise outdoor yard, with gardens.

Each senior could have a PC a TV radio and daily phone calls.

There would be a board of directors to hear complaints, and the guards

would have a code of conduct that would be strictly adhered to.

The criminals would get cold food, be left all alone and unsupervised...

Lights off at 8pm, and showers once a week.  Live in a tiny room and

pay €600 per week and have no hope of ever getting out.

Think about this (more points of contention):

Please note also: COWS

Is it just me, or does anyone else find it amazing that during the mad

cow epidemic our government could track a single cow, born in Mayo

almost three years ago, right to the stall where she slept

And, they even tracked her calves to their stalls. But they are unable

to locate 125,000 illegal immigrants wandering around our country.

Maybe we should give each of them a cow.

Noeleen Duffy

Secretary to Director Of Nursing

St mary's Hospital 

Castleblaney

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Alternative thoughts for everyday

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Shannon L Alder

“I want to open a broken marriage repair shop. I’m not a counselor or psychologist, but I am a fan of the magical bonding that occurs between two people when duct tape binds them together for a long period of time in a dark basement. Refer a friend, and you get a two for one abuse session.” 

Jarod Kintz

“The word 'survivor' carries a weight of remembrance that has broken the minds and bodies of more than a few men and women. It also contains a humbling light of recognition that compels many to do whatever they can to help reinforce the efforts of those who might be 'at risk' of not just giving up on their dreams, but of giving up on their continued existence.” 

Aberjhani

When those you love die, the best you can do is honor their spirit for as long as you live. You make a commitment that you’re going to take whatever lesson that person or animal was trying to teach you, and you make it true in your own life… it’s a positive way to keep their spirit alive in the world, by keeping it alive in yourself.” 

Patrick Swayze

“There is an inverse relationship between control and trust. Trust is more of a two-way exchange than most people, especially those in power, realize. Leaders in government, news media, universities, and corporations think they can own trust, when, of course, trust is given to them. Trust is earned with difficulty and lost with ease. When those institutions treat constituents like masses of fools, children, miscreants, or prisoners, when they simply don't listen, it's unlikely they will engender warm feelings of mutual respect. Trust is an act of opening up. It's a mutual relationship of transparency and sharing. The more ways you find to reveal yourself and listen to others, the more you will build trust, which is your brand.” 

Jeff Jarvis

“Almost everything I've done is technically wrong, but Paul never mentioned the mistakes, only the corrective measures.”

Stefan Fatsis

“Teams that spend a lot of time learning the tricks of the trade will probably never really learn the trade.”

Yuri Boganov

“Humankind cannot bear too much reality.” 

T S Elliot

“You cannot contain evil or crime by shaming it, or making people feel guilty about it, but only by revealing that what it really is to them, and then seeing the good that comes from it.” 

Richard Bohr

“It is better to teach the young how to learn rather than what to learn.”

Richard Dawkins 

“I could help you,” I said. “Counseling, drugs, a religious advisor, a girlfriend. Just tell me what you want.”

Janet Evanovich

Irish bailout has failed to deal with poverty and social exclusion

Social Justice Ireland says that the bailout programme in Ireland had a disproportionately negative impact on the poor.

The independent think-tank has published a report today which finds that there has been an EU-wide failure to deal with poverty and social exclusion.

The study also drew attention to taxation levels in the EU, and found that below-average poverty rates exist in countries with an above average tax-take.

Director of Social Justice Ireland, Dr Sean Healy, says Ireland's bailout put balance sheets before people.

Dr Healy said: "I think the critical failure with the Irish bailout was the failure to deal with the social impacts of the decisions that were being made from the very beginning.

"The social implications were not addressed during the years of the bailout, and in fact even in the subsequent years.

"We have had four regressive budgets in a row, they favour the better off over the poor."

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