Daft Property - Irish Property News

Noonan spells out high cost of our rescue... THE IMF and EU will make a €9bn profit over the lifetime of the bailout loans to Ireland. Finance Minister Michael Noonan last night revealed for the first time just how much the international agencies will make if the €85bn in loans are drawn down in total. The British government is also entitled to send auditors and accountants here to check the books as part of its bilateral deal to Ireland, the Irish Independent has learned. It is also insisting that if Ireland ever leaves the euro the UK must be repaid in full and in sterling -- and not in any new Irish currency. The developments come as the IMF-EU bailout team arrives back in Dublin today to begin the latest examination on whether the Government is meeting the terms of the €85bn programme of aid. The progress of public sector reform and changes to wage-setting systems for low earners will be discussed in talks with IMF-EU bailout team. And it also appears likely the Gover...

LOW-paid workers will be dragged into the taxation net and middle-income earners also face a wide range of tax hikes in the most draconian Budget in the State's history. Taoiseach Brian Cowen yesterday quelled pressure from within Fianna Fail to call an election and will push ahead with plans to cut €6bn in the 2011 Budget on December 7. After being forced to call a by-election in Donegal South-West, the embattled Coalition is now facing the prospect of its majority being reduced to just two for the crucial Budget votes. But Mr Cowen is adamant the Government will stay the course and see through the €6bn austerity package for next year, consisting of spending cuts of €4.5bn and €1.5bn in increased taxes. The Coalition also expects 45,000 workers to emigrate from the country in 2011, leading to just a small rise in unemployment as those who can't get jobs will opt to leave the country instead. For those in the workforce, the prospect of a wide range of tax hikes is on the cards,...

Cowen issues warning about hairshirt budget: 'Major hole' in tax base must be filled... TAOISEACH Brian Cowen last night set the scene for a hairshirt Budget by delivering a stark warning about the state of the public finances. In an off-script address at a chamber of commerce event in Monaghan, he said he wanted to bring it down to "brass tacks", instead of talking about all the zeros and the billions. He said the Government was trying to fix the "major hole" in its tax base, following the disappearance of one third of revenues due to the economic crisis. "This year, we're spending €50bn and our revenue base is €32bn. Let's put that in context. One half of total revenue is being devoted to the health service presently," he said. Mr Cowen went on to say that social welfare, including pensions, child benefit and disability benefit, accounted for two-thirds of tax revenue. "So if you were to take health and social welfare alone, you woul...

Fears raised over stamp duty issue... REACTION: ESTATE AGENTS fear the struggling second-hand housing market may well grind to a halt after the disclosure that stamp duty may be abolished and replaced with an annual property tax. The Government will be under pressure to clarify whether it plans to implement proposals by the Commission on Taxation in the December budget, having already signalled that it it may not proceed with the property tax. Buyers who may be tempted by heavily discounted prices in second-hand houses will be reluctant to make commitments until the stamp duty issue is clarified. The report comes at a time when house sales were beginning to pick up at the opening of the autumn selling season. However, agents last night warned that activity could cease until the Government indicated whether it would proceed with the taxation changes. The Irish Auctioneers Valuers Institute (IAVI), which represents about 1,700 estate agents, last night urged Minister for Finance Brian Le...

Cowen says FF should have taxed property more... THE GOVERNENT should have taxed property more and spent less during the economic boom, the Taoiseach said last night on the Late Late Show with new host Ryan Tubridy. Under questioning from Tubridy about what he accepted blame for during his years as Minsiter for Finance, Mr Cowen said “looking back now we should have taxed housing more than we did”. When Tubridy asked Mr Cowen why this was not done, he said: “Because at the time there was no-one suggesting that that was a policy intiative that was relevant or that was going to solve the problem.” Tubridy again asked the Taoiseach to clarify what he accepted he had done wrong, and Mr Cowen said: “If I knew then what we know now we wouldnt have spent as much.” However, Mr Cowen said he wanted to make the points that during the economic boom Ireland was still reducing its debt, still had surpluses, and was not spending everything that was coming in. He insisted that the decisions taken wer...

The justice minister's declaration on national television that the budget is merely a statement of intent confirms our worst fear: they don't mean what they say. If only they'd told us before... Mystery solved. We now know why Dermot Ahern found nothing on Ray Burke when he was up every tree in north Dublin. It's because he wasn't actually looking. One day long, long ago, the taoiseach summoned him to his office and said "Dermot, I want you to carry out an exhaustive investigation to establish once and for all if Rambo's been on the take from the builders." "Righto, boss," said the future minister for justice, and off he scampered to fetch his climbing boots. But not a whiff of a brown envelope did he detect among the abundant sycamores and great oaks of Swords and Malahide. Why? Because he kept his eyes closed all the time he was looking. Well, if Humpty Dumpty was your boss, would you take his instructions literally? Even pedantic, pettifo...

How our young will get through the recession... BASICS: Sewing and baking is key... THE younger generation is being urged to get back to basics and learn the long forgotten skills of sewing, baking and fending for themselves in a series of classes to be held in Dublin city. Celebrity chef Darina Allen recently said that elderly people have the know-how to cope with limited budgets, but those in younger age groups may find it difficult to survive in the recession. Helpless "People have been so focused on careers and academia that they are helpless when they lose their jobs," she said. "They don't have money and they realise they don't have skills that would help them through. "From a small budget, grandmothers were able to feed the family," she added. "They could look in the fridge and make a meal out of all sorts of little scraps . That is a skill that's lost - being able to judge it yourself when food is safe to eat and when it is not. It...

Ireland's dream is over as bankers chase McJobs... In Dublin, the sushi conveyor belt has stopped turning at one of the city's swankiest Japanese restaurants. In the west of the country, a new McDonald's outlet has been inundated with job applicants, among them bankers, architects and accountants. As signs of the times go, it could hardly be more dramatic. “It's no joke, I had to do a double-take on the CVs,” Kieran McDermott, the franchisee, said. He removed a “Now Hiring” banner on the site of the fast-food restaurant after only ten days. “The jobs were advertised nowhere else.” More than 500 people applied for the 50 available jobs. From indulging the latest food fad to flipping burgers, Ireland's fall from economic grace has been dramatic . Europe's most successful economy for more than a decade - the famous Celtic Tiger - became the first of the eurozone nations to move officially into recession last autumn. Since then, the descent into a financial maelstro...

World reaction to Budget... The reaction to the Budget from European and US websites was wide ranging, with news organisations throughout the globe reporting on the new measures introduced by the Government. The story was picked up not only the usual large media organisations such as the BBC and the Independent, but also by papers less familiar to Irish taxpayers, such as Canada's Toronto Star. The Times online carried a short video clip about the emergency budget and what it would mean for Britain's economy. Describing it as a "bust budget" , the video said Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan was delivering his second emergency Budget in seventh months, describing it as a grim task for any finance minister. However, it pointed out that Ireland had some advantages over Britain, with a smaller national debt, and said that markets would now be looking to Britain's fiscal position. The accompanying article described the measures as a way to address the "runaway...

All set for an April Fool's Budget, but the joke is on us... IT'S a bit like throwing water into a bucket of sand. No matter how many fistfuls of euros the Government fling into the financial black hole, it just keeps on getting bigger, deeper and darker. No-one was expecting the Exchequer returns for the first two months of this year to make pleasant reading, but the sheer speed at which the country is sliding further into the red is nothing short of hair-raising. In the same two months last year, when few people had a clue that the Celtic Tiger had been placed on the endangered species list, the Exchequer posted a Budget deficit of €125m. What a trifle that is, a mere bagatelle compared to frightful figures unleashed yesterday which revealed that the Budget deficit for the first two months of this year stands at €2bn. The economy is staggering all over the place like a drunken sailor, and nobody seems to know how to straighten it out. The Exchequer figures were due to be rele...

Budget will 'turn recession into depression' ... POLITICAL REACTION: Fine Gael deputy leader and spokesman on finance Richard Bruton said this evening the Budget announced by Brian Lenihan today will "threaten to turn a recession into a depression". “This is a Budget that is all about extra taxes for ordinary families, about extra charges for people, and about cutting capital spending,’’ said Mr Bruton. “You are looking to make it tougher for people who are struggling to get by,’’ he added. “There is no sign that you are aware of the pressure on people from fuel bills, the pressure on people who have lost their jobs.’ Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said it "mercilessly targets middle income families". Speaking shortly after the Minister for Finance presented the Budget in the Dáil, Mr Gilmore said Mr Lenihan had failed to take any significant steps to protect the poor and vulnerable in the face of the worst recession facing the country for decades. “Despite ...

Budget cuts of 2 billion euro as economic crisis deepens... But property developers seek hundreds of millions in refunds due to value losses ... FINANCE minister Brian Lenihan is looking for fresh spending cuts of around €800m for next year, on top of the €1.3bn reduction that has already been signed off by ministers in estimates negotiations. The grim news comes as it emerged this weekend that Ireland's property developers, who made millions in the boom, are seeking tax refunds of hundreds of millions of euro after writing down the value of their land banks and other assets. This threatens to drastically reduce the corporation tax receipts the Revenue Commissioners were banking on. With September tax returns expected to be very bad and the economic climate rapidly deteriorating, a further 1.5% reduction in 2009 spending is now up for debate. This would bring planned cutbacks in current expenditure for next year to more than €2bn . " It's very grim. Two weeks after finan...