Sir, - Fintan O'Toole will no doubt be derided as a champion of the poverty industry by the Doheny & Nesbitt school of political economics but he vividly illustrates the effect the "undeserving poor" mentality will have on children (December 11th).
Strangely enough, the carrot rather than the stick is applied to the one truly parasitic sector of Irish society - the farmers. £15m extra in "small" farmers dole, £110m in headage payments, £50m in set aside grants; it's been a good budget for the farmers. But this is not enough. The IFA now wants £1,000 per acre flood relief, a demand which is cynically structured to be of maximum benefit to the ranchers. All of this of course will come from the pockets of PAYE taxpayers.
Is anyone going to shout stop? - Yours, etc., Pat Corcoran,
Charles Street, Dublin 1.