When it comes to putting money away, a lot of us enjoy the security of having some savings in the bank. However, new figures today reveal that 4 out of 10 Irish people can’t save for a rainy day because they have no extra cash to spare.

The Irish Independent reports that these figures mean that the number of people who can’t save money has now hit an all-time high. And the worst thing? This problem is affecting all age brackets in Ireland, according to a survey conducted for Nationwide UK Ireland.

The survey revealed that instead of looking after their future, Irish people are using their savings in order to pay off their debts.

Speaking about the issue, Brendan Synnott, the managing director of Nationwide UK Ireland, said that there were various factors at play which were making it more difficult for people to save their cash.

The survey, which was published today, revealed that 43 per cent of Irish people are not saving any money at all – this is the highest number of non-savers recorded since 2010.

“The economic environment has become less favourable towards saving as evidenced by reductions in deposit interest rates by numerous institutions, including ourselves,” said Mr Synnott.

“The deposit interest rates being paid in the market are not sustainable and it is likely that interest rates will fall further over the next year,” he added.

The survey specifically asked people what they would do if they had extra money left at the end of every week and the majority said that they would save it.

A survey earlier in the week found that 1.8million people are left with a mere €100 left to live on at the end of every month, after they pay bills.

The Irish League of Credit Unions also found that 4 out of 10 people were forced to borrow money in order to pay their electricity and grocery bills.