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Dan White

October 2015

Dan White: Dear Mr Noonan, here's the Budget 'dos' and 'don'ts'

With a general election likely to be just weeks away Finance Minister Michael Noonan is under enormous pressure to make the Budget as voter-friendly as possible.

Tara Street station will be one of the stations to benefit from the upgrade

Dan White: Rail strike threat means it's time to privatise DART

The vote for industrial action by train drivers at Irish Rail brought an old Greek saying to mind - those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad.

The Thornton Hall Prison site – pictured here in 2010 – has plummeted in value since its purchase by the Government for almost €30m in 2005

Dan White: Litany of past waste bodes ill for €42bn vote-grabbing plan

AfTer being forced to tighten its belt since the recession, the Government let it out a few notches yesterday when it unveiled its plans to spend €42bn on a raft of public capital projects over the next six years.

September 2015

Dan White: Time to scrap Metro North and take the spur to the Airport

Like the monster in a cheap horror movie Metro North keeps coming back from the dead.

Staff at the Rebranding of Eircom to Eir at Eir's Headquarters at St John's Road, Dublin

Dan White: Is Eircom's change a €16m exercise in corporate vanity?

Eircom's €16m rebranding is an expensive waste of time. The money would be far better spent on cutting expensive broadband costs instead.

Dan White: Michael Noonan must force banks to slash their extortionate rates

What part of 'no' does Minister Michael Noonan not understand?

Michael Fingleton arrives at the Banking Inquiry in Dublin yesterday. Photo: Tom Burke

Dan White: 'Sorry' still the hardest word for €27m man Michael Fingleton

Former Irish Nationwide boss Michael Fingleton appeared before the Banking Inquiry yesterday - and what an appearance it turned out to be.

August 2015

How many more of us have been tricked off our trackers?

Last month, after a six-year legal and regulatory battle, Permanent TSB (PTSB) was finally forced to come out with its hands up and admit that it had misled almost 1,400 customers into giving up their tracker mortgages.

New strike threats from train drivers border on insane

Just 12 months after they last went on strike, holding commuters and long-distance travellers to ransom, the train drivers are threatening a repeat performance.

Dan White: Low repossession levels simply make homelessness worse

According to Fianna Fail, there is a "tsunami" of home repossessions "sweeping the country".

Dan White: It's time to bury the Dart Underground plan permanently

Of all the extravagant schemes devised during the Celtic Tiger era to squander public money, two of the most spendthrift must surely have been the proposed underground rail lines for Dublin.

July 2015

Dan White: Thank God for tough lending rules taking heat out of market

This time last year it was beginning to look like déjà vu all over again in the housing market.

Dan White: The time has come for the Government to scrap Irish Water

With the Irish State able to freely borrow once again and the problems at Irish Water showing no signs of ending, the time has come for the Government to scrap the troubled utility and take its borrowings back into the national debt figures.

A elderly man In a wheelchair waits with other pensioners outside a national bank branch to withdraw a maximum of €120 ($134) for the week in central Athens

Dan White : Our €1bn to help bail out Greece will be an utter waste of money

Let's be clear at the off. Another bailout for Greece will be an expensive waste of time and money and will only prolong the agony of the Greek people.

Brian Cowen arrives at Leinster House, Dublin, to give evidence at the banking inquiry

Dan White: Cowen's the star, but Inquiry is asking all the wrong questions

Former Taoiseach and Finance Minister Brian Cowen's performance before the Oireachtas Inquiry investigating the events that led to the 2008 bank deposit guarantee and the 2010 Troika bailout was an assured one with only the merest hint of contrition.

June 2015

If you think your mortgage is coming down - think again

Even by their own standards, the disdain shown by the banks to the Government's demands for cuts in variable mortgage interest rates takes some beating.

Dan White: A little bravery could see Ireland benefit from Greek tragedy

A Greek exit from the eurozone could be much messier and traumatic than the so-called "experts" are predicting. This is something that could potentially be very good news for us here in Ireland.

Dan White: Forget a giveaway Budget - spend cash to cut house prices

With an election looming and tax revenues soaring, the Government is busy dreaming up new ways of spending the windfall.

May 2015

New pay deal shows ministers learned nothing from crash

Trade union bosses shuffling in and out of Government Buildings, carefully calibrated media leaks and late night talks. As the American baseball player Yogi Berra used to say: it feels like déjà vu all over again. About the only thing missing were Bertie Ahern's dulcet tones.

Dan White: Willie Walsh's Aer Lingus offer is as good as it gets for airline staff

No-one can accuse IAG chief executive Willie Walsh of lacking patience. This week, five months after IAG first approached Aer Lingus, the Government finally agreed to sell its remaining 25.1pc stake in the airline to Mr Walsh's company.

Banking Inquiry witnesses being given easiest time

John Hurley, who was Governor of the Central Bank from 2002 to 2009, made his long-awaited appearance before the Oireachtas Banking Inquiry on Thursday. However, anyone expecting fireworks was sorely disappointed.

Dan White: Purse strings are loosened... but problems remain

New mortgage lending is increasing but is still less than the amount being repaid on existing home loans.

Dan White: Pressure mounts to bring back rent controls in Dublin

Average rents rose by 8.2pc nationwide in the 12 months to the end of April. However, rents are rising far more quickly in and around Dublin, where a rising population and strong employment growth are coming up against a virtually static supply of housing.

Brendan Howlin, represents a party that is (a) badly struggling in the polls, and (b) heavily dependent on public sector votes (Damien Eagers)

Dan White: If pay cuts must be reversed, then give us bang for our buck

In last month's Spring Economic Statement, the Government dangled the prospect of at least a partial reversal of the public sector pay cuts introduced following the 2008 economic crash.

British election may yet have disastrous consequences for us

Even before we know the final result it is clear that the 2015 British general election will be the most closely-fought contest since at least February 1974.

Why shouldn't new Central Bank boss be foreign or female?

For the first 66 years of its existence, the governorship of the Central Bank was a cosy sinecure for former Department of Finance secretaries-general.

April 2015

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