Sir, – I’m a college lecturer who is single and with a sizeable mortgage.
Not only have I been completely discriminated against in budget after budget because absolutely nothing is given to single people – ever – but I have to effectively fund other people’s social welfare and childcare support rises though my taxes.
Meanwhile my own sizeable mortgage and utility bills continue to increase monthly; with absolutely no societal recognition or support of that.
To add insult to injury my sector took an approximately 30 per cent pay cut all considered during an economic crash we didn’t cause. Meanwhile I have not had one pay increase in over a decade – except for 1 per cent last year, and a further 1 per cent this year promised for this October but which did not materialise – without explanation by the Government.
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Furthermore, my increased ESB bill arrived last week while the Government gave relief on that this week – too late for two more months.
The Government needs to wake up and realise that an increasing proportion of the population is single – and we need support too.
It is not right that we subsidise other sectors of society and get nothing in return; and whether one is middle-class is irrelevant: middle-class people have monthly outgoings too that are rising beyond credulity.
I have a hunch that in the next election single people in all constituencies are going to give current elected politicians a sharp reminder that we exist too, you have completely abandoned us, and there are electoral consequences to that!
– Yours, etc,
KEVIN NOLAN,
Rathfarnham, Dublin 16
