Union leaders demand meeting
David Begg, secretary general of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, said the abolition of the first-time buyers’ grant, worth 3,809, illustrated how the low-paid were being targeted.
“We want to meet with the Taoiseach and the finance minister to put across our very serious reservations and concerns and to see what they intend to do in the Budget,” he said.
“When things are good the minister has thrown petrol on the flames of the economy. But when things are bad, you have to keep up economic activity and be as gentle as you can and correct it when things improve.”
It is likely a meeting between union officials and the Taoiseach will take place next week, when the next round of negotiations for a new pay agreement begin.
Mr Begg also warned that the cutbacks in the estimates would make it very difficult to reach agreement on a successor to the Partnership for Prosperity and Fairness.
Des Geraghty, president of SIPTU, said the unnecessary spending cuts were likely to lead to increased unemployment and deeper recession.
He said commuters stuck in gridlock would be affected by decreases in real spending on roads, while conditions for employees and patients in the health services would deteriorate as spending increases were wiped out by inflation.
“On a day when Dublin’s Mater Hospital had to close its doors to all admissions, Mr McCreevy announced that capital spending on health will be reduced by 6% in absolute terms.
“When we consider that medical inflation is running at around 10% this translates to a real reduction of around 16%,” Mr Geraghty said.
But the SIPTU president reserved most of his ire for the scrapping of the first-time buyers’ grant, aimed at helping young people and low earners onto the first rung of the property ladder.
“The Government has completely ignored the economic realities facing young families by scrapping the grant without warning. Mortgages have risen from over three times the average industrial wage in 1997 to almost five times earnings at present, and average monthly repayments have increased from €241 to €503,” he said.
“In this context, removal of the first-time buyers’ grant exposes the disregard of the Government for the problems facing young families trying to house themselves.”
While unions say prospects for a new pay deal have taken a blow, it is likely the Government will guarantee them that backdated pay due under benchmarking will be paid.
However, the Government has already indicated a pay pause for public sector workers is inevitable next year as there will not be enough funds in the Exchequer for spending increases.
