# Prevention Is Better Than Cure



## Freddie Kruger (11 Dec 2003)

I read an article by David Mc Williams recently where he was equating the additional time spent in the education process with the additional income derived from the resultant ‘better’ job. If memory serves me correctly, the additional income was the equivalent of 7% to 9% per annum for each year spent in education beyond the leaving certificate. A tidy sum when it is compounded annually. 

What startled me was the percentage of young boys, nationally, that left school before leaving cert, 28% . In some areas it was as high as 51%.

Anyway, his concern was about the future of the workforce and how educated they were likely to be, as well as how willing they would be to work and how this would shape the economy in the future.

His conclusion was that we should, as a nation, just cry ENOUGH and address the issue head on to try and keep these young adults in school for their own benefit and the benefit of the country

I am sure that you can all think of situations where a problem should be nipped in the bud so as to prevent it happening in the future, or to shape it in such a way that the outcomes are not as disastrous. Here are some of my own concerns.

I posted a suggestion in another forum that I thought that financial planning/services should be taught to all school kids. This would enable our young adults to make more informed decisions as to what products and services they were buying and reduce the risk of paying over the top for something that they may or may not have needed. 

The current crop of savings and investment products leave a lot to be desired and until such time as people stop buying them, some innovative company or product come to the market or there is some intervention as to what does and does not constitute a ‘dodgy’ product, then we are going to have disgruntled savers in years to come. It is a mystery to me why product providers cannot see this and that they are damaging their own industry for years to come.

Over the past number of years there has been an influx of people retiring to this country (at least where I live). This is as a result of our perceived/actual lower cost of living in relation to some other countries. In light of recent fiscal policy, where the emphasis has been on indirect taxation, are we not going to leave the flood gates open for Irish retirees to leave these shores and retire to some other countries where their Euro will carry more weight? Family ties will probably have an impact on this but smaller family units and air travel may negate this.

It seems that we are following in the steps of our American cousins in the ‘overweight’ department. Not just the kids, but the adult statistics are on the up and up. I accept that a lot of the problem lies in our style of living and the ready access of convenience food but the companies that are in the ‘sugar delivery business’ have to be held accountable in some way. The cereals that we feed our kids, the foundation of the first meal of the day, tell us that there is ‘Reduced Sugar’ or ‘Low Sugar’ in the products. ‘Reduced’ and ‘Low’ in comparison to What? Is sugar addictive? If so where are the warnings? This has to have some effect on our Health Services for the future.

Sinn Fein and the ‘Protest Vote’ is another but this has been noted elsewhere on the forum.

Any Others?


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