Debt as a percentage of the size of the economy is going down, however.
Last year it was equal to 86.4% of GNI* which is a measure of the economy which strips out some of the effects of the multinational sector. This year it is projected to decline further to 81.6% of GNI*.
At its height during the Covid crisis, gross national debt was €236.1 billion in 2021 or 101% of GNI*.
Before Covid in 2019, gross debt was €203.4 billion or 96.5% GNI*.
At its height relative to what was a smaller economy, debt during the financial crisis rose to 165% GNI* in 2012.
We don’t have the highest debt burden in the world. As a percentage of our economy it’s falling. We’ve housing issues like most capital cities. Supply seems to be coming on and prices are stabilizing. Rents are too high for sure but then apartments for rent are objected to and landlords are being driven out.
Health needs reform and that means tackling the unions. Will any political party do that. Once you are in the system the care is very good but it’s rationed at source and that needs tackling and structural change.
Lads are choosing to move here out of all EU countries.
We’re doing really well as a country and if there’s a utopia elsewhere people would be rushing to live in it.
Things can get a whole lot worse in Ireland very quickly.
A lot of nothing there bud… We’ve put all our eggs in the MNC basket, which is shrinking, and we’re all living on credit. People are coming here alright… to fill the high-end jobs the Irish can’t fill. Take a big wage, happy to pay big rent and fuck off again after a couple of years… I’m not sure their tax is offsetting the high rents they create.
Household debt stood at €128bn or €25,568 per capita in Q3 2021, a decrease of 37% from its peak in Q3 2008. As a percentage of household disposable income, household debt stood at 100 per cent in Q3 2021, an all-time series low.
In terms of debt arrears, the Residential Mortgage Arrears and Repossession Statistics (available at www.centralbank.ie/statistics/data-and-analysis/credit-and-banking-statistics/mortgage-arrears) indicate there were 60,971 accounts in mortgage arrears of 30 days or more as at end-Q3 2021, with 47,681 accounts relating to Principal Dwelling House (PDHs), and 13,110 relating to Buy-to-lets (BTLs). The total arrears balance was €2.83bn, with €2.74bn relating to PDH accounts.
Focussing on loans held by retail banks, the Non-Performing Loan ratio for lending to businesses was 8 per cent in 2021q3.
What is the cost of the interest payments ffom the magic money tree used to pay for everyone to sit on their hiles during covid, while us essential workers kept the country afloat
Unemployment in the Republic has fallen to an all-time record low of 3.8 per cent.
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) said the seasonally adjusted rate of joblessness fell from 3.9 per cent in April to 3.8 per cent in May, eclipsing the low achieved in the early 2000s.
