Daft Property - Irish Property News

300,000 are 'wiped out' by the recession... THE average Irish person is now about 30 per cent worse off than they were before the recession, a startling new report has found. The report, by economist consultants at Indecon, also found that almost 300,000 people had been wiped out financially over the last four years. These 300,000 people have seen their incomes plummet by about 50 per cent because most of them were in well-paid full-time jobs in 2007 but are now relying on the dole after the recession forced them out of their jobs. The report, which was given exclusively to the Sunday Independent, is the first to examine the toll of the recession on the everyday finances of ordinary people. Its findings come in the wake of Environment Minister Phil Hogan's decision to hit most homeowners with a €100 household charge and a new Government plan to slash the pay rates of tens of thousands of future workers in areas such as catering, hotels, retail and hairdressing.