Daft Property - Irish Property News

Celtic Tiger developers trying to scam Nama – Taoiseach Taoiseach Enda Kenny has declared concerns that developers could be buying back assets seized by Nama at knockdown prices. Mr Kenny said he had some indications that boom-time speculators who could not repay massive loans - now tied to the taxpayer - were attempting to repurchase their properties at their current prices. Just over a week ago, the state toxic assets agency dismissed allegations repeated by a Fianna Fail senator about the practice. Mark Daly had claimed the taxpayer was picking up the bill, running into hundreds of thousands of euro, for the plunging loan values while those who borrowed the money regained their properties at a fraction of the original price. Speaking at the British Irish Parliamentary Assembly in Cork, Mr Kenny signalled his intention to meet finance minister Michael Noonan about the issue. "I have had some indications of attempts to acquire property that was taken from developers thr

More pain for PAYE workers as tax hike looks likely... THE GOVERNMENT is on the brink of breaking its election solemn promise not to raise income tax. The tax rise threat emerged as the European Central Bank (ECB) hinted that it is preparing to introduce a 0.25pc hike in interest rates next month -- which will add almost €400 yearly to the average €250,000 mortgage. The blow to struggling homeowners will be further compounded by a new property tax and water charge set to be introduced in the new year. Finance Minister Michael Noonan told the Dail yesterday: "I am not going to rule out any tax initiative, or any tax increase or any tax reduction." He added that the "fraught" condition of our public finances meant he was not in a position to predict take hikes, including income tax. The minister was also forced to concede that EU states such as France and Germany are looking to take an interest in the national assets of bailed-out states such as Ireland.

250,000 'broke' after paying mortgage and utility bills... A QUARTER of a million people have nothing left to live on once they have paid mortgage and electricity bills, according to a new survey which reveals the true extent of the hardship imposed on households by the recession. And another 210,000 people are so hard-up that their income does not even cover their essential bills for heat and the cost of the home, research commissioned by the Irish League of Credit Unions shows. Another three-quarters of a million people have on average just €70 left each month after paying essential bills, the iReach survey conducted for the Irish League of Credit Unions shows. The research, conducted to see how much disposable income households have, found that a large number -- 428,000 -- feel there is no future for their family in this country. Family incomes have been hit by tax changes, higher utility bills and transport costs, the research found. Most people regard their mor

Do not lose hope, urges Dalai Lama... Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has urged Irish people not to be discouraged or lose hope as they struggle to cope with the financial crisis. In his first visit to Ireland in 20 years the exiled Nobel peace laureate spoke to a sold-out conference of 2,000 people on the first leg of a two-day trip. With the country reeling from its worst recession and facing the costliest banking crisis in history, the 76-year-old said money would not make people happy. "The ultimate source of happiness, peace of mind, cannot be produced by money," he said. "Billionaires, they are, I notice, very unhappy people. Very powerful, but deep inside, too much anxiety, too much stress. "So where I go, I always say ... the ultimate source of happiness and successful life is within ourselves." The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, addressed the Possibilities civic summit organised through the Children in Crossfire charity, est

THE country is facing crippling interest payments of €10 billion a year after the European Union and IMF agreed to an €85bn rescue package to fund the economy for the next three years. The bulk of the money, €50bn, will be used to pay for the day-to-day running of the country. The banks will receive €8bn immediately to restore their cash reserves; €2bn will be on standby and a further €25bn will be available if and when they need it. The money will come from the IMF, our Euro area partners and loans from Britain, Denmark and Sweden. In addition, the country has been told to take €12.5bn from the National Pension Reserve Fund and use €5bn the NTMA had already borrowed to pay for early 2011. The expected average interest rate for the bailout will be 5.83%. By 2013 the national debt is expected to rise above €200bn and by then almost a quarter of all taxes raised will be used to pay interest service costs. At the end of the term this is expected to have climbed to €9.66bn a year if the ba

1 If €6bn seems like a huge number, it's because it is. The equivalent of more than €1,300 for every man, woman and child in the country, it works out at an average of €4,000 for each one of our 1.5 million households. 2 The Government says the Budget "adjustments" will be split 3:1 between spending cuts and tax increases, ie €4.5bn of cuts and "only" €1.5bn of tax rises. That still means that each of the 1.8 million people still working will each be paying an average of over €800 more tax in 2011. 3 For lower income earners, December 7 is likely to bring a shock. After the Budget, most if not all workers will be paying income tax. For someone on the minimum wage even a 10pc tax rate could cost them up to €1,800 a year. 4 Middle income earners are also going to find themselves squeezed. The Government is likely to hike all of the tax rates. 5 Homeowners are going to remember December 7 for decades to come as the Government finally imposes a property tax and wate

Mansergh concedes that serious mistakes were made... THE IRISH public is determined to remain in control of its own affairs despite the scale of the financial crisis, Minister of State Martin Mansergh told leading economists in London last night. “There is a determination to try and maintain control as far as we can in our affairs, and to avoid – and to do whatever we have to do to avoid – outside dictation either on expenditure or taxation.” Speaking to Politeia, an economic forum in London, Mr Mansergh readily conceded that serious mistakes had been made by governments over the last decades. In the late 1990s, public spending controls were eased up, with the number of public employees rising by 50 per cent and the salaries for those in higher ranks by 80 to 100 per cent, sometimes even more. “I think there is an argument for saying that Irish society, or certainly the upper echelons – whether involved in the public or private sector – did become somewhat greedy when the good times we

Be prepared for a double whammy of property and water levies... PROPERTY tax isn't going away -- and it might be introduced at the same time as water charges. Homeowners who thought they would be spared the controversial taxes for the foreseeable future have been told that they are still firmly on the Government's Budget agenda. As the Cabinet prepared to meet for its final session before the summer break, Justice Minister Dermot Ahern reignited the debate over domestic taxes. It had been believed that property tax would be shelved, despite the Government's need to make a €3bn adjustment in December's budget. But yesterday, Mr Ahern said: "That may include a property tax and charging for water - which are in every other European country." Dragged He also warned that low paid workers could be dragged back into the tax net. "There's a relatively small percentage of people who are paying tax. But 50pc of people are not paying a bob of tax. That is not su

Property tax plan to help fill '€3.5bn hole'... IMF urges help on mortgages and new tax on bank salaries: THE Government is considering a flat-rate property tax as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warns an extra €3.5bn may be needed to meet budget targets. In a detailed analysis of the Irish economy, the IMF predicted the Government may not enjoy the hoped-for "bounce" from the recession. The Department of Finance believes that forecast is too gloomy. The difference between the two views amounts to 2pc of the country's output (GDP) and that comes to almost €3.5bn over the next five years. However, government officials agreed that a property tax would be a good way to make the public finances more stable. That is revealed in a new report from the Washington-based fund. Despite claims that a property tax is "off the agenda" in the next two Budgets, the Government told the IMF a flat-rate tax on property was under consideration "in the transition&

5,000 will leave each month over job crisis... 120,000 to emigrate by end of next year, ESRI predicts: MORE than 120,000 people -- or 5,000 a month -- will emigrate by the end of next year to escape unemployment at home, the State's economic think tank warns in its latest report. That means the equivalent population of Cork city will leave over the next 18 months. The figure is 20,000 more than the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) estimated in its last report, just three months ago. Jean Goggin, a co-author of the report, said: "It's quite significant -- we expect 70,000 to leave in 2010 and a further 50,000 in 2011." Unlike last year, most of these emigrants will be Irish, the figures suggest. Many foreign workers -- mostly in construction and retailing -- whose jobs disappeared have already left the country. "In the two years 2008 and 2009, the number of non-nationals employed in Ireland fell by 87,500," the report says. "The biggest adju

While the rest of us work, TDs get three months off... THERE are ordinary people and then there are the people in the Dail. Dr James Reilly made the distinction while arguing against a three-month summer recess. Ordinary people, he said, could not fathom how the Government could take a three-month holiday in the middle of the biggest economic crisis in the history of the State. The Fine Gael deputy leader was doing his best to distance himself and his party from the perception that they and all the other extraordinary people in the Dail exist in some sort of parallel universe , untroubled by reality . However, the Opposition's attempts to absolve themselves by objecting to the length of the recess rang a little hollowly. In the end, they shrugged and went off on holiday anyway. Would it be too cynical to suggest that it doesn't matter a curse that the Dail will be inactive for three months due to its general ineffectiveness? When we are told that the Dail has decided this or th

They've gone, but are we safer?... IT's a sign of the times really. On this weekend in previous years we would have, by now, worked ourselves into a frenzy of outrage about the fact that, as the country faces its greatest challenges yet, our leaders are about to embark on the kind of summer holidays unknown outside the teaching or TV-presenting fraternity. Indeed, many of our leaders are teachers and one can only assume they took to politics because they knew it was one of the few other professions where grown adults get two or three months off simply because it is summer. This year the outrage is muted. This year we are all half relieved that they are all heading off for a good stretch. "There, there", we think, "let them have a little holiday and see if they feel better after that." We even secretly hope that they might be different when they come back, that they might come into contact with the real world over the summer months, and that such a shock migh

The Merrion Street mandarins have failed us – it’s time for a shake-out... THE mid-point of the year sees the publication of the half-year exchequer returns and CSO data on the economy. This will form the backdrop to the formation of December’s budget. Next week the Department of Finance will circulate its strategic memo to shape 2011 expenditure plans. The Government has been softening up the public for tax hikes. A flat household charge of €175 for water and an average residential property tax of €1,000 per household are being promulgated. All the while, the Bord Snip Nua report continues to gather dust. Finance Minister Brian Lenihan has announced an external independent group is to review the performance of the Department of Finance over the past decade. Speculation has centred on its advice to ministers, forecasting ability and competence dealing with the banking crisis. The lack of specialist personnel has been acknowledged. Its annual budget forecasts of GDP and tax revenues hav

Property tax: how will it work... Homeowners will have to fork out hundreds every year if the Government presses ahead with plans to introduce a new property tax... THE prospect of a property tax is looming large as the Government attempts to plug holes in the Exchequer finances. An annual tax based on the value and size of the property is what is being considered, it is understood. Taoiseach Brian Cowen said in the Dail last week that no decision had been made on the tax measure, but he did not rule out introducing the new tax either. The tax would be self-assessed. This would likely mean homeowners having to get their home professionally valued so they could make an accurate assessment of its worth. For a lower-valued house, homeowners would pay around €250 a year, while those with a pricier house in a sought-after area would pay more than €3,000 a year. However, any move to introduce a property tax is set to be hugely unpopular and may even be resisted, if calls and texts from homeo

Being strangled by the monthly mortgage noose... OVER the past number of weeks and months, we have become used to speaking in billions. Seven billion to recapitalise AIB and Bank of Ireland; a €22bn cash injection into Anglo Irish Bank; €81bn worth of developer loans transferred to NAMA -- the list and amounts of money appear to be endless. But for many, the only real amount that matters is the one they need to pay each month to keep a roof over their head. Unfortunately, for tens of thousands of Irish families, this amount is far greater than their income and the mortgage rope around their neck simply gets tighter and tighter each month. According to the Financial Regulator, more than 28,000 homeowners have not been able to repay their mortgage for more than three months. Another 30,000 have been forced to renegotiate their mortgages. I suspect this figure of almost 60,000 is merely the tip of the iceberg and will only increase. Considering that more than 230,000 people have been made

Cuts, tax and emigration the harshest medicine... IT'S often been said that the best cure for poverty and unemployment is a job. But the reality of the modern Irish economy is that the best cure is emigration. The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) said yesterday that 100,000 people would leave Ireland this year and next, keeping a lid on already high unemployment and helping to relieve some of the budgetary pressures on the Government. The loss of 100,000 mainly young people is hardly something to celebrate, but the reality is that without this safety valve the Irish economy would be mired in levels of unemployment last witnessed in the 1980s. The ESRI calculated yesterday that if the amount of people in the labour market had not fallen over the last year via emigration, the rate of unemployment would be about 16pc not the current 13.4pc. Ireland is shipping out its young people to countries like Canada, the US, Australia and the UK, thereby easing the pressure on the e

Government has sold us out to neo-gombeen man... Over 100 years ago, JM Synge described the gombeen man as follows, "groggy patriot/publican/ge-neral shopman who is married to the priest's half-sister and is a second cousin once removed of the dispensary doctor ... the type that is running the United Irish League anti-grazier campaign, while at the same time they are swindling the people themselves in a dozen ways and buying back their holdings and packing off whole families to America". When we see the closing of businesses and the emigration of our neighbours and relations while deeply entrenched "insiders" disguise national robbery in the emotional language of patriotism, it is not difficult to conclude that the gombeen man never went away. Even in terms of the detail of Synge's gombeen man buying up the peasants' holdings, it is obvious that, for NAMA to work, the State will have to trade land cheaply at some stage in the future. And guess what? To g

Two in five executives fear 'double dip' recession... Almost 40 per cent of Ireland's top chief executives fear the country may face a "double dip" recession, according to the Sunday Independent Business Leaders Survey, a poll of Ireland's top 300 businesses. Economists have suggested the recession may technically end this year, with modest growth pencilled in, as Ireland piggybacks on a global recovery. But this growth may be short-lived as spiralling public debts, shattered consumer confidence, rising unemployment and potential interest rate hikes drive the country back into recession. The survey found that 39 per cent expected a "double dip", just ahead of 38 per cent of respondents who forecast that Ireland would escape a second recession. Almost 23 per cent were undecided. The American Chamber of Commerce estimates that up to 40 per cent of Ireland's corporation tax comes from US subsidiaries based here, and, if the recession deepens in the

Ireland needs a new publicly owned bank modelled on a lender that helped rebuild Germany after the Second World War, it was claimed today. Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said a state bank was necessary to inject much-needed cash into struggling smaller firms and business start-ups. A Strategic Investment Bank - based on Germany's KfW bank, which was set up under the post-war Marshall Plan to rebuild a devastated Europe - would also raise money for public projects, he claimed. "Businesses need money to start up and keep going," he said. "At the moment and certainly for the foreseeable future there does not appear to be any prospect that the existing banking system is going to provide that finance." Mr Gilmore said the proposed bank would be set up with €2bn taken from the national pension fund, with another €18bn raised from international money markets. Under the Labour plan, it would have a small number of branches and, while state-owned, would be run independently

House prices 'set for further 10pc fall' says leading economist... House prices will fall by another 10pc before the market hits rock bottom next year, a leading economist predicted today. Jim Power, chief economist of Friends First, believes while the recession is likely to end around the middle of this year, consumer confidence and spending will continue to be undermined by wage cuts, an uncertain labour market and further reductions in state spending. The finance house revealed six out of 10 consumers are not confident in the Government's ability to revive the economy, with a third backing a Fine Gael/Labour coalition to do the job. Mr Power said it was difficult to be convinced the economic situation will improve considerably in the near future. "The Irish economy is going through an extremely difficult adjustment and the situation remains precarious. It is way too early to sound the all clear," he warned. "A fundamental reform of taxation and spending is