Fight the rip-off republic

IT is clear that, between tax increases and wage decreases, thousands of families are being dragged out of prosperity and into poverty.

Perhaps the worst casualties are the tens of thousands who invested in grotesquely over-priced houses financed on fixed-interest mortgages.

People with such mortgages will benefit least from falling inflation, as the official inflation figures are driven largely by changes in interest rates.

Nonetheless, perhaps the main area where people can be helped might be via a governmental focus on tackling — once and all — the rip-off element in our over-priced economy.

If the Government could focus on this area with the same relentlessness that it has gone into other areas, then it is quite possible that a lot may be done to salvage a reasonable standard of living for the people.

John Stafford

Dargle Wood

Knocklyon

Dublin 16