The Presbyterian bailout
The Presbyterian Church's current £5m refurbishment of its headquarters has angered some PMS savers who think the church has a moral responsibility to contribute more to the rescue package. The pressure on the church to find an additional £4m may now increase as the impact of the UK Treasury's cuts on the Northern Ireland Executive's budget begin to be seen. Stafford Carson's statement today -- that the church has not been formally asked to contribute more -- may prompt the Finance Minister to send a letter in the next few days or weeks thanking the Presbyterian Church for its willingness to be even more generous and asking how generous they are willing to be.
Comment number 1.
At 26th Nov 2010, robertrev wrote:Has a breakdown of the amounts savers have in the PMS ever been issued? What percentage of folk have under £5000, £10000, £20000, £50000, and so on?
The reason I ask, is because it could well be that pensioners in the PCI, on a very tight budget, might be asked to contribute so that those with a million pounds or more invested, might be fully compensated. I do not think that is fair.
Surely everyone under £50000 should be fully compensated, with those with the really big money invested taking the hit - after all the PMS was never really meant for them anyway.
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Comment number 2.
At 26th Nov 2010, Heliopolitan wrote:Contribute more to the *fun*??
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Comment number 3.
At 26th Nov 2010, newlach wrote:If the principle is established that the Presbyterian Church should contribute to the bailout, why should its contribution be limited to a maximum of £5 million when its assets far exceed this figure? It is not long ago that there was outrage at the cost to taxpayers of the Pope's visit to Britain - this is much worse.
Taxpayers should be protected; not fleeced.
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Comment number 4.
At 26th Nov 2010, marykin wrote:I agree with robertrev -- the big money will continue to be recompensated as time goes on and the under 20,000s won't see a thing. I wonder if there isn't a way that the PCI monies can't go in a specifically targetted way to the little guy.
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Comment number 5.
At 26th Nov 2010, newlach wrote:I have been thinking about these figures and the situation is dire for taxpayers.
If the Government's gift of £25 million is added to the Executive's gift of £25 million this makes £50 million. This figure divided by the total number of savers (10,000) gives a figure of £5,000 per saver!
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Comment number 6.
At 27th Nov 2010, LucyQ wrote:Is this same group of people whining about other global bank bailouts?
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Comment number 7.
At 28th Nov 2010, anneofavonlea wrote:RobertRev's suggestions make a lot of sense to me but perhaps that is because I fall into this category. The whole situation is one great bit mess and if I wasn't dedicated to the PCI I would be saying "Goodbye"
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