So, is the recession over?
OFFICIAL IRELAND'S continuous commentary over recent months is preoccupied with positivity. The CSO reveal two continuous quarters in 2011 of positive growth, suggesting the Irish economy has stabilised.
Unemployment in September fell by 5000, for the first time since 2008. Irish sovereign bond yields have reduced, prompting restoration of investor confidence in our economic credibility. IMF, ECB and EU commission have favourably reported that we are exemplary in implementing the bailout.
The IDA won investment contracts from 75 foreign multinational companies this year-projects creating 5200 jobs in the medium term. Twitter are coming to Dublin, completing a cohort of social networking giants locating here. Agriculture and food exports experience significant improvement in commodity prices and growth in market share. Tourism numbers show 8% growth of foreign visitors, relative to last year. Overall, our balance of payments is in surplus, with exports up 24%. Market sentiment appears positive towards Ireland Inc.
After four consecutive years of economic contraction, can we dare to hope that this time we have "turned a corner "? Above facts are undeniable. Grounds for optimism must be tempered with anticipation of inevitable default in Greece. This may not be contained at 50% non-repayment on €350 billion national debts and may extend beyond 70%. The domino effect on European banks will require recapitalisation in aggregate of €150 -€350 billion. Contagion may cause the euro to unravel, leaving credibility of our recovery in tatters.
Significant job losses at MBNA, Aviva and Talk Talk are due to corporate boardrooms determining costs of business here are too high. Government will extract €4 billion out of circulation in the forthcoming December 6 budget. At the end of this month ( just after the presidential vote), they will announce their three-year austerity plan. This must retard consumer spending. Construction industry and state capital projects may observe a decade of paralysis. Most recent exchequer returns show a yearly 2% reduction in key barometer revenues of VAT and excise duty. Unexploded landmines of bad debt still persist in financial institutions and credit unions.
Facts On Ireland Health Insurance - News
In early 2011, Ireland announced an austerity plan, including measures relating to public health expenses. -- In August, Slovakia enforced a new reference pricing system, the 2nd cheapest in Europe (as compared to the 6th cheapest today on average),
You can tell that the banks are sitting on huge losses (bad loans) when they are buying insurance against their own debt defaulting (credit default swaps) such as Goldman Sachs recent announcements of profits on this basis as a consequence of the
Health Minister created a hostage to fortune with pre-election promises of: free GP care within the government's lifetime; universal health insurance; no hospital waiting time of more than a year for patients and a new National Children's Hospital for
There can be no doubt that the pharmaceutical industry and the health insurance industry control our health care policies. There is no doubt the congressional-military-industrial complex controls our endless wars to preserve profits for a few.
You can even find several insurance providers that offer insurance tour coverages to senior travelers. They are the best target since most of them love adventure trips that will cause risks to their health. In United States, they compose the large
Competition in Primary HealthCare in Ireland ... - The Irish Economy
Heard on the radio that a paper is going the rounds of HSE ……
simply stop issuing medical cards ….. [i.e. let them die]
cut more hours from the home help and carers budgets [i.e. let them die]
I cannot believe that this madness is continuing ….. and that a few billion will be paid out to unsecured bondholders before XMAS …
This is an excellent overview. There are obviously lots of small changes needed to improve competition rather than one radical change. Some of these are happening albeit slowly e.g. increase in training places for GPs. Others are infuriatingly slow e.g. breaking down the barriers to access to a GMS contract.
The big unknown is the impact of Universal Health Insurance. This will dramatically increase the pool of ‘public’ patients and in Ireland outside of some wealthy enclaves a strong GMS contract is the cornerstone of a GP practice. If UHI is introduced without a radical review of primary care workforce it will simply be another exercise in diverting public resources from the 99% to the 1%. The Department knows this and will hopefully do more than commission an analysis.
@Johnny Foreigner
Universal Health Insurance?
I repeat - a memo is on the rounds of the HSE with one option being to simply refuse to allocate medical cards for a period of time ……..
Krugman is probably right - the world is gone mad - “terrifying”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/14/opinion/rabbit-hole-economics.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha212
@Jagdip
The Troika needs a good ‘Declaration of Intent to Withdraw from the Lunacy’ spoken by an Irish Politician who gives citizen health priority over dead banks, dead bank bondholders, dead promissory notes, and the upper-echelon fiddler fraternity in the locality.
Before there are any changes to the health service south of the border in the direction of reducing private sector provision of health care, which seems to be what the left-wing ideologues in the media and academia want, there should be a thorough investigation of why the almost entirely public health service north of the border is lagging so far behind its counterpart south of the border in reducing mortality rates.