Cowen: National wealth collapsing

IRELAND’S national wealth is collapsing at a rate virtually unseen in recent world history, the Taoiseach yesterday admitted.

Brian Cowen said the country’s income would dive by up to 10% in the 2008-10 period.

“A scale of decline that is without precedent here in Ireland and with few international parallels,” he said opening a two-day Dáil debate on the economic crisis.