Not just a rainy day... it’s pouring

GOVERNMENT plans to put billions of euro aside in a Rainy Day Fund seem surreal when there are 10,000 people in emergency accommodation.

The 1,700 families with around 3,800 homeless children will be appalled the Finance Minister is planning for a future housing crisis before tackling the current one.

For those confined indefinitely in hotels, B&BS and family hubs it’s not just raining, it’s already pouring.

They might also ask how Pascal Donohoe and his Government could fix a housing crisis if there was another crash when they can’t fix it with a booming economy.

The 700,000 people on hospital waiting lists might also ask why the Government is worrying about our future financial health when the actual health service is falling apart.

It is always prudent to put something away for a rainy day but people have every right to be suspicious about the Government’s motives.

They will remember the National Pension Reserve Fund being plundered to save the banks – a naked transfer of taxpayers’ money to private companies for which the public suffered relentless austerity.

If this huge amount of cash is to be put aside there must be a written guarantee given the fund will never be used to bail out a financial institution or a public or private company.