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Latest IMF Report: Student Grant Scheme to be abolished national |
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press release
 Monday December 20, 2010 22:56 by AxetoRoot
 éirígí - IMF report reveals further drastic cuts The latest IMF report, published last Friday, two days after the gombeens in Leinster House voted to accept the deal, reveals plans to reintroduce third level fees, abolish the current grant scheme for low income students and replace it with a loan scheme to pay for fees and confirms that child benefit will be means tested. None of these specific proposals were contained within the so called Memorandum of Understanding between the IMF and the Dublin government. éirígí has issued a press release copied below - here is a link to the IMF report - details of these latest measures are on page 24 of the report. http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2010/cr10366.pdf éirígí Slam Vote on IMF Deal as a Sham
These new proposals are in addition to those outlined in the four-year austerity plan, which will impose a host of new stealth taxes, including the doubling of carbon tax to €30 [£25] per tonne, the introduction of water charges, a tax on family homes, along the rate VAT being increased to 23 per cent. All of these measures will be imposed by 2014. Leeson said: “Households are already reeling from the savage cuts announced in Budget 2011. The revelation that, in addition to the destructive plans announced in the so-called Recovery Programme, child benefit will be means tested, state pensions cut, the student grant scheme abolished, third level fees increased further, and additional cuts in unemployment payments will come as a deep shock to households across the Twenty-Six Counties that are already struggling. “The IMF has blazed a trail of destruction across the globe; the odious measures it imposes simply increase levels of poverty and inequality.” Leeson also slammed the undemocratic nature of the deal. “It is increasingly clear that Dublin government policy is being dictated by faceless IMF bureaucrats in Washington and rubber-stamped by a lame duck administration in Leinster House,” he added. “The people who are being sold into penury to save the banks have no absolutely no control over how this state is run. “The sham debate about this criminal deal that took place in Leinster House made no mention of the fact that child benefit would be means tested or that the student grant scheme is to be abolished. Brian Lenihan made much of the fact that Budget 2011 did not cut the state pension rate, but he cynically neglected to mention the fact that pensioners will face those cuts by 2014. This state is now effectively an IMF dictatorship: a dictatorship that will drive hundreds of thousands of our people into poverty and misery.” The IMF report also confirms there are 70,000 distressed mortgages and shamefully proposes that those unable to meet their repayments simply declare insolvency, surrender their homes and seek to access social housing [Page 20 IMF Country Report No. 10/366]. Leeson continued: “What planet are the IMF living on? There are already over 50,000 households on council waiting lists across the Twenty-Six County state. Where are all of these evicted families to be housed? The IMF is proposing mass evictions in Ireland so that German and British banks can recover the hundreds of billions they are owed. Poverty and homelessness is the price working people will pay in order to clear the gambling debts of the bankers. “These latest revelations will add to the growing well of anger building against this government and its masters in the IMF. The IMF has effectively declared war on working class communities across the Twenty-Six Counties. The people of Ireland have a proud history of resisting foreign occupation and tyranny. “The IMF must be driven out, the bondholders burned and the sovereignty of the people restored.” |
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Comments (3 of 3)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3Because a bunch of corrupt FF politicians gave a ridiculous bank guarantee to private banks.
It is nonsensical to go along with this premise. Instead, renege on bank guarantee and use credit unions (which re-invest locally) infrastructure to support loans to SME's instead of depending on these gambling casinos (banks) to run our economy. Differentiate between state debt and private bank debt and let the banks give their shares in lieu of debt. Fuck em. And fuck the bondholders. They don't care about us. Just money.
Then make necessary cuts such as:
>closing ALL tax loopholes NOW (not in a few years time!!!)
>raising corporation tax. They can take a hit too. We'll still be cheap
>Imposing a maximum wage for all public offices semi states and TD's (100k)
>same basic (dole) state pension for EVERYONE, (i.e. no more big tax write off pension pots for the rich!)
>removal of ALL expenses for well paid civil servants earning > 50k. if they don't like it then resign and give someone else a cushy job
>no political cars or jets
>no tax on the (clearly defined) family home but a nice fat(!) property tax on all other property in your portfolio, etc etc.
>simplification of state bureaucracy which in some cases itself costs more than giving people their rightful state entitlements
>use ghost estate housing now owned by the state to house poorer people on rent allowance / housing lists thus saving payments to private landlords. There are thousands of vacant houses and thousands of homeless people on rent allowance. Rental income is money given to rich people for owning property. fuck them.
plenty of scope for cleaning up and saving wasted money given to greedy rich folk without resorting to neo liberal shafting of the poor and lower paid to the degree you suggest
Yeah one thing I agree on. No child benefit on more than 2 children.
third and subsequent children get nothing. (perhaps even tax them!!) There are too many hungry unemployed miserable folk without us encouraging bringing in more resource absorbing creatures into the system right now. Have a million versions of yourself to appease your massive ego (if you really must!) but you should pay for these time bombs yourself.
Oh and one more thing....Don't vote FF, FG, GP, PD or "new" Labour or for any FF submarine independents in the next election. They all favour cuts and bank bailouts.
Vote SF / ULA / anyone else. Thats a real vote for something different!! And sink treasonous FF forever by giving them NO seats.
You don't get much of a say in this crooked so called "democracy" of ours folks. The dice are loaded, the game is rigged. Many of you fell for Bertie's crocodile tears on RTE last time (despite the screams of Cassandra in the collective unconscious!!) but this time around you really should know the score. Please don't be fooled yet again. Use what little power you have wisely.
I think you're overpaying them at 100k, V.
50k + vouched expenses should be enough for anyone. Not sure bout the kiddy limits. I see the logic, but unless monitored closely the kids could pay for the disadvantage/self-indulgence of the parents.
Also every public representative and public employee should use public transport, medical facilities, education etc.
That way they might start to take an interest in ensuring efficiency for ALL, in case they might find themselves on a slow queue. Otherwise the position is just a personal paycheck to lift them above the public we pay them to serve. Us.
As the man said, we might as well dream here as in bed.
China has recently made the offer of giving economic support to help indebted european countries like greece and Ireland.
Why not renege on the bank guarantee and burn the greedy banks and take the red option??.
Then we could take out loans from china at more favourable rates. We could also burn shell and sell our gasfield to china instead at 50% royalties if they extract it at sea.
Problem solved.
China is mad for good energy resources like this. They are also pretty good at building infrastructure so perhaps we could just give it to them in return for guaranteed cheap loans and building a proper public transport system (rail) and hospitals and a bunch of non prefab schools and working with us on technical aspects of wave power generation ec etc. Hell we were giving it away to shell for nothing anyway.
Plus shell won't mess with china so they won't cause problems about getting kicked out.