Sir, – As a member of the “squeezed middle”, who appear to have our incomes taxed to the hilt without recourse to the range of tax-relief schemes generally availed of by the wealthy, I despair of having to fund yet another bailout due to inadequate regulatory oversight of the construction sector.
Reports indicate that mica relief measures will reach in excess of €2.7 billion, which the long-suffering taxpayer will have to fund. I have, over the years, through taxation and various levies, had to bail out the insurance sector (twice), the banking sector, the construction sector, and now the construction sector yet again.
I was under the mistaken impression that all of these entities were subject to regulations introduced under respective legislation, but whenever they come a cropper it appears that the provisions to ensure compliance have been left woefully inadequate, or unenforced.
I again mistakenly assumed, that in order to get planning permission for developments, builders would need to have insurance bonds in place to remediate issues such as pyrite and mica. It appears that such bonds are either mysteriously not liable, inadequate to meet the costs, or not in place.
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If the practice of privatising profits and socialising losses occurs yet again, at the expense of taxpayers like myself, is it any wonder that Sinn Féin continues its stellar trajectory in the polls?
– Yours, etc,
FRANK WALSH,
Coolballow,
Wexford.