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FIANNA FÁIL SAY they would make an overall adjustment of €220 million in next week’s budget, including €361 million in net new tax measures.
The party’s pre-Budget submission, which has just been released, states that a Fianna Fáil led Government would also seek €290 million in cuts to public sector spending through “targeted efficiency”.
The document states they would also begin “immediate action to secure a reduction in the interest bill on Ireland’s IMF loans yielding a saving of €300m”.
Based on data currently available, we believe our overall adjustment of €220m would result in the deficit falling comfortably below 3%.
The proposals contrast with the plan set to be announced by Finance Minister Michael Noonan next Tuesday.
While the Government’s initial position was that a further €2 billion adjustment would be needed, Noonan has said several times recently that this is no longer necessary and that next week’s package of measures will be broadly neutral.
Tax
Ministers have also been hinting that tax cuts will be on the cards, and in his latest public comment on the matter last night, the Taoiseach told business leaders that this year’s announcement would be the “first step” towards lowering the top 52 per cent income tax rate.
There are no such promises in the Fianna Fáil plan. According to Chapter 8 of the 36-page document:
Everyone agrees on the need to reduce the tax burden particularly on struggling families. However we are still at the early stages of economic recovery. Across the board income tax reductions at this early stage would not be prudent.
The party says it would be “more prudent to wait twelve months before introducing significant changes to the tax regime”.
A simplification of the tax code is proposed, including a facility to allow lower paid workers a partial PRSI refund.
Action would also be taken to make the Local Property Tax and water charges fairer, according to the FF plan…
Our commitment is to examine the structure of both the local property tax and water charges to introduce a greater degree of fairness linking them to ability to pay.
“As an interim measure, we propose extending the €100 payment to assist with water charges to the 211,000 households in receipt of the fuel allowance payment.”
A new levy on sugary drinks would also be introduced and excise on tobacco increased.
Social housing
On the issue of housing, the party says that that €1 billion of the €2.5 billion or so “that the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund is sitting on” should be allocated for the construction of social housing.
Upwards of 6,500 units could be made available with such a move, it’s claimed.
Additionally:
We are proposing an additional €100m be allocated for social housing through the local authorities capital programme in 2015.
The party’s also proposing the provision of 20,000 new discretionary medical cards and the recruitment of 500 additional gardaí. A Fianna Fáil government would also bring in an increase in the living alone allowance of €5 per week.
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Ireland doesn’t need more taxes. It should lower taxes so people have more money to spend in the local economy. This will create thousands of jobs the unemployment rate will fall. More people paying tax less people claiming dole it’s win win.
Yes Mike most people would agree with you but the most important thing for the these people is the flow of money to pay for salaries and pensions in the public service, this is their priority.
Mike, tax cuts are great, we’d all love lower taxes. But you can’t lower taxes without cutting expenditure somewhere else or borrowing to cover the shortcoming.
It’s not a win-win, it’s never a win-win. It’s always a tradeoff and a choice between two or more options/alternatives.
If you cut taxes by 2%, people will go spend that money…. Shops will increase their prices accordingly by 2% and no one gets any more than they had beforehand… You’ll get elected, but in 12 months time you’ll see the figures and realise you made no one better off and you failed despite your good intentions.
Sorry but that is a zero sum argument, if the economy is stimulated through lower taxes people have more money to spend or invest which creates more jobs and more tax payers which ultimately bring in more revenue.
DadaiO, if the extra revenue of the tax break is spent into the economy, there will be a short term growth in jobs, but ultimately, inflation eats up the benefit and the result is that nothing new has been created. Maybe if we had an economy who’s demand was less reliant on imports more of the boost would lead to job growth, but realistically it creates a short term impact – I want to see policies that are not short term reactionary attempts at winning votes today, I want slow, non-sexy improvements in our economy that lead to sustainable growth.
We’re in a hole people, we have been for a while – stop looking for options where we place dynamite beneath ourselves saying, “Don’t worry, it’s gonna get us out of the hole”… but if it fails, guess what, we’re in a bigger hole.
I have a hotel in London. I lowered the prices back in January. Since then the hotel is 90% full most nights. The restaurant and bar profits are up over 300%. Ive hired 6 more staff. Think what a country could do by lowering taxes.
Mike, I think we’re talking about two different things now.
Oh jesus the same cycle really is starting all over again…it’s gonna be 2006-7 again in a few years I’m getting deja vu here, the ”don’t mention flaws in the economy or you’re a doom and gloomer” meme has already begun and now people are starting to beleive in the magic formula of cut taxes = more revenue again….whats maddening about this is these are the exact same people foaming at the mouth about how FF destroyed the economy…do you not remember Brian Cowens budget speeches ”IT’S THE TAX TAKE THAT MATTERS NO THE TAX RATE” he would yell smugly across the floor in the Dail….don’t buy into this neoliberal school of economics bs that you can cut taxes and get loads of revenue that way it’s nonsense, it’s voodoo economics and it always was.
It might work in some cases, like with corporation tax we get more from 12percent than we would from 60% because after a year or two the companies would move and the revenue base would dry up, it works to an extent with capital taxes (not as much as people think though) but it does not really work with income taxes.
This has been studied ad nausium, the economy is stimulated much more by direct spending than by tax cuts, why do you think the German stimulus package worked so well and the Obama one didn’t? The Obama one was mostly tax cuts.
Don’t be led to think there are magical and easy choices guys , it’s not exactly a zero sum game that’s too black and white, but don’t start making the same mistakes we made before jesus have people learned nothing…
Ryan, the USA economy is growing at over 4% and the German economy is growing less than 1%.
Obama’s tax cuts have worked.
Sorry but is this not the same shower of clowns that got us in this mess in the first place
I like Michael Martin. He’s young, he’s new, he’s bright and he’s got loads of great ideas. I wonder if he is related to the other Michael Martin? Ya know, that waste of flesh who was part of the worst government in the history of our state? The minister that created the monster that is the HSE? The minister, who’s government, were guilty of negligence, incompetence, cronyism and lied to the people of this country? The minister who’s government mortgaged the country into billions of debt and brought us to his knees? The minister, who’s legacy is, over a thousand people leaving the country every week in search of a life???
I bet they are not related. They can’t be. Sure this ‘new’ fella is great.
Never forget people!!!
Waiting for Sinn Feins billion euro recovery plan plucked out of their arse.
How could anyone contemplate a vote for #FF in #GE15 with this corrupt leader still at the helm
GE15 I like what you did there
Why do we have those IMF loans again Michael?
Fianna fáil make the mafia look like alter boys. The people that vote for them are just as fn bad.
We don’t have a taxation problem we have a spending problem.
Which the far left promise to rise & rise.
…we really don’t. This comment section seems to be the far left and far right yelling at each other each only seeing reality through their own lens.
In terms of our spending on services we are way below the EU average, were the only EU state without universal healthcare and one of very few that don’t give free education or universal childcare.
I’m not suggesting we start blowing up deficits to pay for this stuff, but as the economy recovers more revenue will come in on it’s own without having to raise taxes and we should be able to afford those things, as the economy gets better and more revenue flows in there will hopefully be scope to remove USC, and I’d personally ditch the water and property taxes but we can’t start going mad cutting the rates by 10-15% like we did duringt he tiger era we’ll just end up back where we were.
Were actually way below average in terms of our spending on Public Services in the EU. Were the only one without universal healthcare for example, the only state that punishes you for working and earning more by withdrawing services from you the very minute you start to pay the taxes to fund them because our population thinks means testing is the magic bullet that can fix everything when it’s actually the source of a lot of the inefficiencies in our system.
I’m not suggesting we blow up deficits to reach the average EU level but as the economy improves so will revenues then there will be scope to scrap things like USC and provide things like UH, but we have to do it carefully in small bites we can’t make the same mistakes we did before.
I feel weird.
I actually agree with their statement.
The savings side is already in action & no point w*nking away 4 years of bugetry prudence at the first sign of recovery.
This agreeing with FF doesnt sit well with this cat.
I’m off to slump fully clothed in a shower ala Eva Green in ‘Casino Royale’.
This is what I find so frustrating. You have the same people who are saying they wrecked the country budget wise saying lets have a hoard of tax cuts and spending hikes….but it was doing both of those things at the same time that got us into trouble in the first place!!!! FFSAKE!
That was FF’s big mistake, and they’ve clearly learned from it, meanwhile FG are , according to the new poll today, dying to start cutting taxes left right and center.
USC needs to go, water charges need to go, property tax needs to go. But beyond that we can’t start gutting rates like we did in the late 90s early 00s or were gonna be right back in another hole.
Ryan
1) Tax cuts don’t hurt the economy, they might just hurt our deficit.
2) This is a “comment” section not an essay section.
Fcuk off Mehole Martin
There should be a tax on Fianna Fáil until the damage they did is paid off …
There seems to be quite a lot of re-writing of history on this site, maybe it’s govt supporters, maybe it’s Shinners maybe some of you are just too young to remember how things actually went down and remember it wrong.
I remember quite clearly how it happened. I was a PD supporter but knew a lot of FG people. When, in 2007 early 2008 a friend ahead of me in education listening to the likes of Morgan Kelly convinced me it was bubblenomics and heading for crash, nobody in FF-PDs-FG-Lab would listen to us, they all wanted to spend more they all agreed we’d ”fixed” the economy and the 2007 debate was how to spend the money. When we pointed out the danger of deposits being gambled with on property scams and exotic financial instruments they just said sure the regulator can deal with that it’s grand, every one of them LAUGHED at the idea of a bailout being down the road ”sure the banks are rolling in it what would they need state support for” said one FGer.
All 3 main parties were on the same page on economics in 2007 in fact the IDA used to brag about this to international investors as a sign of stability. The only ones making the right predictions on this (odd since now they are supposed to be economic illiterates) was SF.
If a FG-Lab govt was elected in 2007 the crash still would have happened, the bailouts would have happened, the deficit would have happened…it all would have happened and FF would have been elected in 2011 as the party of economic competence and you’d be cursing FG today.
In fact, if I’m honest, even if the govt in 2007 did EVERYTHING we were recommending they do, separated depository and investment banking, banned certain financial instruments, stopped the subprime mortgage scams, tightened up the ratings agencies criteria, spent the property revenue on things like finishing Transport 21 instead of extra 10ers on welfare rates…we’d still have been a small open economy that would be dragged down when the US and UK went down. We’d not have had the big bank bailouts but we’d still have had a deficit and a recession, just less extreme ones. So stop lying to yourselves, you do yourselves no favors.
Another right wing builder banker white collar party….. FF (Fcuk all but the Few)
White collar criminal party
Where,s all the money the FF robbed of the dead people ,lost wills and that
Fianna Fail will go absolutely nowhere with Micheal Martin as their leader.
Feck off Mehole ..we dont want you and your cronies ever again
have your say