Madam, - It is very seldom that one is truly inspired by what a government and regulators do. But I am today. The plan to guarantee deposits and certain debt of Irish banks is brilliantly neat and simple. I am certain other countries will replicate it.
This is not about capitalism, socialism or another "ism" I cannot pronounce. This is about survival. The systemic failure that we are currently seeing in the financial markets means that anyone could fail even if they are trying their best; Ireland could have been that "anyone".
Congratulations to the Minister, the Central Bank, the Financial Regulator, the banks and whoever else was involved. I'm fed up hearing people moaning about "bail-outs" and "fat cats" - we are all in this together. Éirinn go brách. - Yours, etc,
EOIN TONGE,
Knocknashee,
Goatstown,
Dublin 14.
***
Madam, - Surely all chief executives and chairmen of the boards of the six Irish banks should resign with immediate effect. They have totally failed in their duties to their shareholders and their reckless behaviour would have brought the country to its knees if the Government had not acted in such an inspired and responsible manner.
Congratulations to the Minister for Finance. - Yours, etc,
CHARLES SMYTH,
Maperath,
Kells,
Co Meath.
***
Madam, - The guarantee offered by the Government on any debt incurred by the Irish banks may well be the best way to safeguard jobs and businesses in this country, both of which require a banking system that can offer loans and safeguard deposits.
This step is being taken for the wellbeing of the Irish people, but it will have the side-effect of rewarding the banks. This flies in the face of free market capitalism, their supposed modus operandi.
This side-effect should be limited as much as possible. The fact that these banks' employees won't lose their jobs, when several other far less delinquent businesses' employees have lost theirs, is as much benefit as they should receive.
For them to accrue any other benefits would be immoral and would increase disillusionment in a population that is already unhealthily cynical in its attitude to politics and public life. The press and the Opposition will have to ensure this critical point is not overlooked. - Yours, etc,
JIM McGOWAN,
Arnott Street,
Dublin 8.
***
Madam, - The Government's decision to guarantee bank deposits looks to me like an act of desperation, rather than a model to be followed by other countries. Unlike most EU countries, Ireland encouraged excessive levels of lending, resulting in a critical situation for Irish financial institutions. I am amazed to hear politicians saying every day that the present economic crisis is the result of external factors, rather than of their own very short-sighted policy. Ireland is in denial and this will not help the Irish Government and citizens to face the crisis, look for a long-term solution and make the country truly strong and competitive in an increasingly unstable world.
I am not being negative; I am just assessing the present situation with my eyes well open so that I can plan for the future, rather than pretend that all is well as our politicians would like us to believe. - Yours, etc,
FIONA HARRIS,
Dublin 6.
***
Madam, - It seems that in Ireland the "smoke-filled rooms" of power remain the same as before, filled with the powerful, largely unelected and unaccountable.
Of course now they are smoke-free and bishop-free, but for the past 15 years the directors of the leading banks have had their suited behinds in the upholstered government armchairs that once supported the cassocked prelates.
The Irish Catholic Church is now a chastened and humbled institution, and all the better for it. Can we now look forward to the investigation, punishment, chastisement and humiliation of the bankers?
But before the bankers follow the bishops out of the rooms of power, could they be asked some questions, such as: Who employed and incentivised hard-sell tactics to sucker naive youngsters into 110 per cent loan-to-value, interest-only, 35-year mortgages? Who destroyed the capital of the country's financial infrastructure with enormous loans to undercapitalised cowboy property speculators? Who will pay the price for the pain and suffering to come on account of these abuses? Surely at least some of this immorality must fall within the scope of the criminal law, and if not, shouldn't the law be changed? It would be an outrage if justice was not both done and seen to be done.
In America it was recently announced that the FBI has commenced wide ranging investigations into many financial institutions to answer questions like this and perhaps bring bank executives and directors to justice. The Irish Government has announced a bank rescue that dwarfs the US action in scale. Aren't we entitled to expect an investigation that at least matches that initiated in the US? - Yours, etc,
JOHN HUGHES,
Harlech Downs,
Clonskeagh,
Dublin 14.
***
Madam - As some people have remarked, getting out may be harder than getting in. Consider, for example, the possible market distortion as we approach the end of the two-year window, and recall the recent hiatus in the housing market created by an impending government decision on stamp duty. It would be better to build in now the "getting-out mechanism".
The legislation should be drafted so that the banks' guarantee - now 100 per cent, it seems - declines steadily over a defined period to the guarantee in place last week. This would be transparent. The market is smart, and would factor it in immediately. - Yours, etc,
JOHN HASLETT,
Clonard Drive,
Dublin 18.
***
Madam, - There has been a lot of complaint recently about inefficiency and waste in the civil service, with assertions that such things would never happen in the private sector. Whose mistakes are we all underwriting to the tune of €400 billion, then? - Yours, etc,
HUGH CAREY,
Portacarron,
Ballymoneen Road,
Galway.