Can we not do what we want now?

WhiteWalls

Since DeTroika have left town can we not do what we want with our own finances now? Excuse my ignorance if I have got this totally wrong

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/income-tax-will-rise-4pc-if-government-abolishes-water-charges-taoiseach-30710647.html

hmmm

We're still borrowing 7 billion a year. The troika might have left, but until such time as we either pay more tax or the government spends less we'll always be constrained.

Guy:Incognito

"What we want" is to not be paying for stuff with loans that we can and should be paying for with cash. Borrowing for day to day stuff is an ever deeper hole with no bottom.

Try it on a small scale. Spend every penny you have each week without doing your food shopping. Then go to the credit union every Friday and borrow €100 to be paid back over 6 months. See if you ever get back in the black operating like that. At some stage you'll have to sit down and think "wait, I need to cut my spending (or increase my income)"

Godge

We still have to meet EU criteria, we are not Iceland who can burn the foreigners.

We still have to follow through on promises made to the Troika so that we can continue to borrow. If the markets see us back down from the commitments, they won't lend us money and we will be back to the Troika.

CartHorse

The Irish people voted to give up their currency and the power to devalue.

You have to take the good with the bad.

realitykeeper

We could do what we want but we should also be mindful of the consequences. Take foolish people for example, they drink, smoke, gamble and do drugs because they want to and of course they get hooked. Come to think of it, that sounds like Ireland`s addiction to borrowing.

Slydice

Of course we can do whatever we want.

Didn't you see the budget for next year that _WE_ made?

Once it gets approved over in Brussels and Germany, then we can fire ahead :-)