Dear Sir,

I am concerned that a lot more people have not displayed their doubts about the quality of the recent Budget, comparing the status of the financial requirements needed to manage the Irish economy would place Ireland as just a corner shop and not a megastore.

Any housewife could tell you that when the amount of income that she has been receiving to run the household dries up, she has to take stock and act. She certainly would not willingly cut down on the children’s meals or clothing. She would cut down on unnecessary car trips and internet expenses and other luxuries before she would dream of borrowing from a loan shark. She is wise enough to know that what she has to borrow she will eventually have to pay back.

We have a situation here in Ireland where the country is being run on borrowed money. Up to the present time we are lucky that we are being forced to borrow from sources that kept on eye on how we spent that money and how committed we were to paying it back on time. In a way we were being managed free of cost.

In a few weeks time our Government will be revelling in the freedom of choice of whom they can borrow from and the lenders will consider whether we are a good risk or not. I am sure that they will notice that even with the help of the shackles of austerity, the Government is failing to balance its books and every month it is taking in one billion euro of revenue less than what it is spending and there are no voices protesting the whereabouts of a good housekeeper.

The deferring of debt from one budget to another is risky housekeeping, especially as it is gathering interest. Ireland may be a corner shop as far as economies go, but its managers are in the mega store variety when it comes to remuneration.

Thank you,

Richard Prendergast,

Mondaniel,

Rathcormac,

Co Cork.