We are informed by the Minister for Finance that the EU has dictated the four-year term to reduce our budget deficit.

To reduce the deficit by €15bn in this timeframe would ensure that the country enters a vortex of deflation which would destroy the real economy for at least a decade. A first-year economics student would understand this.

All the EU countries are financially sick. Along with Greece, we are a hospital case that needs treatment over a long period of time.

The only hospital to cure this sickness at a price we can afford is the International Monetary Fund.

The UK used the IMF during the Callaghan premiership and history shows what a good job the IMF did. Are we too proud – or should that be too stupid?

Ralph Fagan

rfagan@eircom.net

Dun Laoghaire