According to an EU study almost three out of ten Irish people fear they may run out of money and be unable to purchase food and other basic goods.
The study found that 15% of of people feel that they may loose their job while 45% say they would be unable to handle an unexpected expense of $1,200 within the next year.
Nearly 45% of respondents felt that they would be unable to keep up with rent and mortgage payments in the next 12 months.
Just 6% of respondents are currently falling behind on the payment of bills with a further 9% finding repayments a constant struggle.
Almost 50% of the Irish respondents said they thought poverty in Ireland greatly increased since the recession began.
The study was carried out in every EU country with a 1,000 people surveyed in Ireland.
Some 4% of Irish respondents felt it was "very likely” or “fairly likely” that they would be forced to leave their home due to financial pressure.
Over 35% of respondents said they were finding it difficult to afford healthcare compared to the EU average of 29%.
Irish people are worried that they will be unable to afford long term care for family members with 27% of respondents saying they will be unable to afford it.
The study found that the recession has seen the Irish pscyhe develop an emotional and financial insecurity with many of the respondents fearing that they may find themselves on the bread line.
The report stated, "The older the respondents, the more likely they were to feel that it had become harder to afford general healthcare and long-term care for themselves or their family.”
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.olddocman | Jun 28, 2010, 01:15 AM EDT
Sad, It shows what happen when high employment promotes excessive expenditures and the denial of the possibility that conditions can suddenly change.
JBRAFTREE | Jun 25, 2010, 11:43 AM EDT
A little frugality for a few years certainly would have helped. I remember our outside construction workers here in the Chicago area would save a little over half their pay in the spring summer and fall every year, because when the snow fell, the jobs were done, they'd have something else to live on.
shannynkatelyn | Jun 25, 2010, 10:34 AM EDT
I haven't been blessed to be in Ireland since I was a kid. However, based upon what we're experienceing in the USA, & my own perceptions, knowledge, & experience both of & with world events & politics, I would say the multinational corporations pretty much have us all in a bag! Like sack of potaotes, or dung if you like, we're all stuck in the same place except for the elite few!I believe in Divine Intervention as well as being an active participant in helping miracles to come to pass. We should never give up on our faith nor should we foget what God can do thru His people in times of the greatest turmoil,oppression & tragedy. I thank God for my Irish genes & ability to never give up believing in good to prevail over evil! This means doing my part to stand my ground firmly for is true, right & just.I have prayed for our world every day since I was a little girl. I'm not giving up on the greater picture I was taught thru faith. Faith teaches us to hope & perservere. I stand with the commonn people the world over & with my God. May His will be done! May we all live to see the 2nd coiming of our Lord! It it then, & only then, that genuine truth, justice,love for one another shall reign in this ungodly mess which has made of all His creation.
Searlit | Jun 24, 2010, 12:52 PM EDT
I still think it's the big corporations, especially big oil and the financial institutions. All the profits go to their corporate executive officers, and with Ireland having one of the lowest corporation taxes in the world, the Irish economy has got to be harshly effected by them. Afterall, it is only a few people (CEO'S) that are ruining the global economy.
WoundedKnee | Jun 24, 2010, 11:35 AM EDT
Most people don't know this, but the Irish state pays out hundreds of millions in handouts for foreign immigrants every year. If you have been looking for a job in Latvia (where benefits are about a fifth what they are in Ireland) all you have to do is go to Ireland and say you are looking for a job there. Bingo! Your welfare goes up 500%. And you don't need to live there--with RyanAir you can fly in every couple of weeks to pick up your check. If you don't fancy that you can claim public housing (almost free ) in Ireland. And you can invent a half-dozen children in latvia, and the Irish taxpayer will pay you welfare for them! And the Irish are too dumb to know why they're broke!
olddocman | Jun 24, 2010, 12:30 AM EDT
The people in Ireland are not the only people with these fears. Also, they are not alone in not trusting their government.
jimmy12003 | Jun 23, 2010, 07:15 PM EDT
but thats the sad thing here! its not corporations here making the mess, its a small number of very powerfull people! they have set up the system so much that they cant be held for it!
Searlit | Jun 23, 2010, 07:04 PM EDT
Yes, what happened to real public servants, are they all just lapdogs for the corporations?
jimmy12003 | Jun 23, 2010, 06:59 PM EDT
it will have to happen before the people will finally agree, that we have to get these people out of government once and for all! and try and rebuild something from the mess they have left us in!
ChrisButler9999 | Jun 23, 2010, 03:29 PM EDT
Prices going up in the shops. Hyper inflation on its way. So called Governments stealing from social welfare recipients. Mass starvation is on its way to Ireland.
kateomprint | Jun 23, 2010, 01:16 PM EDT
Our Government seem to be looking after the rich and forgetting about the weak in society. They have now decided that you have to pay a new tax on our home of €250. They seem to be finding new ways of taxing just to bulk up the exchequer so that they will have money to give to the Banks.
Searlit | Jun 23, 2010, 11:32 AM EDT
It will turn around, just hold on, it's a tough road.
killowen | Jun 23, 2010, 09:03 AM EDT
Needs for a collective approach like the kibbutzim model. Does not seem incompatible with the values we hold dear.
GeorgeDillon | Jun 23, 2010, 08:21 AM EDT
What a shameful indictment of Fianna Fail and their mad policies! Of course many of these families facing hunger are foreign migrants. The crazy Fianna Fail policy of settling Ireland with huge numbers of foreigners has left Ireland with massive social problems.