Does Bertie Ahern really expect us to believe that he wasn’t fully aware of the unhealthy relationship he built between developers and the banking industry? asks Fergus Finlay

Ed Dunne shows us around his 1967 Ford GT500 custom build

First-time buyer couples would get grants of up to €10,000 to help with deposits for their homes, Fianna Fáil has promised.

Every worker in the country could be forced to contribute up to 15% of their gross income into a mandatory pension scheme, according to a proposal by the Society of Actuaries in Ireland.

The sacrifices the Irish people have made cannot continue into the last two years of this Coalition’s tenure. I hope we will have a return to Fianna Fáil, for these reasons:

It has being dubbed the SSIA of the jobs plan — the idea of paying employers one euro of every four to hire those out of work.

Many complaints have been made about the process for paying the household charge — “confusing“, “poor information campaign”, etc.

A MAN has complained to the Dáil Public Accounts Committee he is not being granted access to his German savings account which is part of his pension fund.

THE first point to be made about the National Solidarity Bond is it is not another SSIA scheme to which the Government will contribute.

CLOSE to one-in-five people surveyed say they are unable to meet their monthly financial commitments. Also almost two out of three people said their household incomes have been cut this year.

IN his letter (September 21), John O’Driscoll urges us for Ireland’s sake to resist the temptation to “take it out on the rotten assembly in Leinster House” by rejecting the Lisbon Treaty.

ONE in five variable rate mortgage holders have seen savings of more than €500 on their repayments since the European Central Bank (ECB) started cutting interest rates last year.

MORE than e70 million has been collected from tax dodgers as a result of the latest crackdown by the Revenue Commissioners on undeclared money kept in bank accounts.

DESPITE the credit crunch, savvy Irish consumers tempted by bargains are still splashing the cash abroad.

SINCE cutbacks have become the new economic vocabulary, government ministers are for the first time in over a decade facing challenges of a very different nature.

SMALL firms’ lobby group ISME believes mandatory employer-funded pensions would result in thousands of job losses.

The Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association has claimed the introduction of mandatory pensions could cause its members to lay off thousands of workers.

CONSUMERS should be able to draw down part of their pension before retirement to fund needs such as the purchase of a house.

IRISH families and consumers are in debt to the tune of a record €142.7bn — more than double the €60.9bn burden of five years ago.

THE number of shoppers hitting the streets in the vital run-up to Christmas slumped — pointing to what could be the worst festive trade in years.

New car sales increased 4.5% last year, it was revealed today.

Builders merchants and DIY group Grafton has announced that turnover for 2007 exceeded €3.2bn, an increase of 10% on 2006.

MOTOR dealers had their best year since 2000 with sales up 4.5% to 186,540 thanks to buyers flush with SSIA savings money.

IRISH holidaymakers splashed out a record €2.1 billion for holidays in the sun this summer as they fled Ireland’s disastrous weather and headed abroad.

FEARS over the economy did not stop Irish consumers from spending heavily in September, CSO figures show.

Retail sales have risen by 1.3% in September after a fall of 1% in August, to leave them up slightly over the two-month period.

IRELAND is less exposed to the global credit crunch than other jurisdictions but the country could be facing a pension crisis.

CONSUMER watchdogs want to change Irish law so consumers can jointly take on big companies in the courts for the first time.

THE growth in retail sales came to a halt in August with new figures showing a decline in sales volume in the month.

Irish Life has said that pension reform must include an SSIA-style pensions incentive if it is to have any effect on encouraging more people to save for their retirement.

THE Department of Education has been urged to end delays on the announcement of grant schemes.

MORE that half of Ireland’s 345,000 entrepreneurs do not have a pension plan despite the availability of generous tax reliefs, new research has found.

LENDING figures for July show borrowing for house purchases has hit its lowest point in five-and-a-half years.

YESTERDAY’S Central Statistics Office report on our older population and increasing life expectancy lays some myths to rest but should not be used as an excuse for complacency in the reform of our method of pension provision, health services, nursing home legislation or community-based care for retired people.

Despite the recent frenzy on the Irish stock market, the Wealth of the Nation Report issued by the Bank of Ireland yesterday paints a rosy picture, with our prosperity growing by 19% last year.

Almost half of Irish people aged between 22 and 28 are regular savers, according to a survey conducted for Bank of Ireland.

Irish consumers are getting slightly more optimistic about their future prospects, according to IIB Bank and the ESRI.

THE extraordinary resurgence of Fianna Fáil means the country’s most successful political party will form a record third government in a row.

The Financial Regulator is urging SSIA holders to shop around for the best interest rates if they decide to build on the savings habit.

DOUBT is creeping in about the future direction of the economy.

A new survey looking into the future of Ireland’s personal wealth has found that 86% of women have no savings other than an SSIA and only 18% say they are likely to save in the future, with over half saying they are unlikely to save.

HOLIDAYMAKERS are heading in droves to the United States thanks to SSIA bonuses pouring into their bank accounts and rock-bottom prices due to a weak dollar.

AT ELECTION time, everything is local.

WHEN things go wrong they go very wrong.