The Irish Examiner View: Disinterested advice is best

Back in the day when morals were no more than a yardstick by which another’s sexual enthusiasms might be measured, some of the best advice any parent might give a child was “don’t take sweets from strangers”.

That dodge-the-trap advice still stands. However, any parent trying to prepare a child for today’s world — and what a task that is — could add that they should always be wary of bankers bearing gifts.

That stands even as more than 45,000 mortgage breaks have been granted or are close to completion. This equates to about 5% of all mortgages. Up to 14,000 payment breaks for SMEs have been granted, or are in train. On top of that, banks are “well advanced” in processing 3,200 requests for immediate working capital.

It may seem churlish to point out that a deferred payment — even if the period of deferral is extended — is just that, and it will extend the period of a loan or have to be made in parallel with other payments. The bailed-out banks, still enjoying tax breaks matched to legacy losses from 2008, will collect their pound of flesh, the only thing in question is when.

There may be alternatives in today’s ever-harder world. MABS, the State money advice and budgeting service, may be able to point to a path through the maze of these difficult times that may not involve taking a metaphorical sweet from someone whose ambitions may not be built around your best interests. Take the right advice, not the sweetest advice.