HAS IT REALLY COME TO THIS? – Examiner Opinion Piece, 27 May 2011

Friday 27 May 2011

It is clear that Ireland is in the midst of the
greatest economic crisis since the foundation
of the State. A crisis caused by a culture of
greed promoted by a few powerful interest groups
and fuelled by financial institutions who doled
out cheap finance so that they could return
massive profits and bonuses to their senior
executives.

On the same day research from Trinity College’s
Pensions Policy Review Group found that senior
executives in 48 of Ireland’s top companies have
made pension provision for their retirement in
excess of €200,000, Minister Bruton – cheered
on by a host of employer groups – proposed to
attack the incomes of the most vulnerable and
lowest paid workers in the State by cutting
their meagre earnings in the lowest paid sectors
in the economy. This includes the cleaners who
clea