Bail-out under scrutiny

BRIAN MCKNIGHT (Letters, August 31) asks if “prudence counted for anything during the last 14 years”, when he objects to “the rest of us” bailing out people who “lost the run of themselves”.

The same question applies to the banks and those in NAMA who lost the run of themselves in a much bigger way than the ordinary person who bought a house to live in. Mr McKnight describes it very well when he says that they spent “like heroin addicts” and should have had to put up with the reward or punishment that comes with taking risks.

However, since government bailed out the banks, it is not in a good position to refuse people in trouble with their mortgages when they look for a bailout.