The Government recently appointed a committee to consider extending the boundary of Cork City. The census records suggest that they proceed with caution.

After years of scrimping, the Irish people are sick of penny-pinching. They decided en masse to splash out in the lead up to Christmas and in the sales that followed.

In January, the GAA introduced the black card for cynical fouls in football. It has eliminated much of the pulling and dragging that blighted the game. Not counting replays or extra-time, the average score in games played in this year’s All-Ireland senior football championship is 35 points.

A 40-hour week on the national minimum wage earns €346. The contributory State pension is €230.30 per week

Ministers are striving to outdo one another with threats of even more taxes in the next budget. This Government have lost the run of themselves.

That was a ‘timely’ letter from Maurice Fitzgerald, on Oct 30 (“It’s time to end summertime”).

Gaelic football would benefit enormously if the GAA reduced the number of players on a team to 13.

The Croke Park talks have failed.

Fergus Finlay made a very good point about “governing behind closed doors” (Irish Examiner Oct 9).

The Government hopes to collect €160 million from the new household tax.

On Mar 8 one of the strongest solar storms in years glanced off planet Earth.

LAST Wednesday (Jan 25), our health service decision-makers announced a new target.

The civil service may indeed serve Ireland very well, but in the hectic business of public life, nobody has asked one obvious question.

CERTIFICATE of “Corkness” is a good idea.

THE Government has just found €3.6 billion that they did not know they owed.

WHAT A wonderful weekend for sport. First, Ireland trounced the Tri-Nations champions in rugby.

FR Tom Kelleher (Letters, June 4) asked the right question: Have the so-called “productive” disciplines of technological and economic studies taken over exclusively in all third-level institutes and universities?

THE proposal to open up civil service recruitment to the private sector does not mean privatising the public service.

CAN the state give financial support to a private business under EU competition rules?

OUR two main banks are to lend 12 billion to small and medium enterprises over the next two years. Is this a big deal?

I FULLY agree with your editorial headlined ‘Privatisation admits defeat’ (July 5). To privatise our semi-state companies would be to raise the flag of surrender to market forces.

RECENT economic history in Ireland shows the euro is depreciating as our national currency. Greece, Spain and Portugal are experiencing similar economic gloom.

INCOME distribution is top-heavy in Ireland. The top 20% of taxpayers pocketed 50% of all earnings in Ireland in 2006.

ON a recent Thursday I applied online to renew my road tax. On the following Tuesday, I received my tax disc in the post. Now that’s what I call real public service.

SO the OECD has published its latest report comparing the education systems in various countries.

HERE we go again. Would the Minister for Health and the Irish Pharmaceutical Union ever stop playing hardball with sick people’s lives? Time is running out in the latest stand-off.

THE Government intends to take whatever action may be deemed necessary and appropriate whenever the Commission on Taxation makes its recommendations.

YOUR front page headline (April 30) shouted ‘Department staff clocked up 20,000 sick days in three years’.

IT was great to see Paul Warwick kick two magnificent drop goals from play in Munster’s quarter-final match against the Ospreys.

SHAME on you for trumpeting the abomination of corporal punishment in your editorial of December 30.

THERE is one way to fix our broken economy.

REGARDLESS of yesterday’s hairshirt budget, here are a few fiscal indicators to grab you by the collar: