Budget bites
- Fine Gael finance spokesman, Deputy Richard Bruton.“It doesn’t live up to the hype, does it?
There’s precious little here to take the taxpayers on modest incomes out of the top rate of tax. This is a budget of goodies, not of strategy. It is a populist budget, not a visionary one.” - Labour party finance spokeswoman, Deputy Joan Burton. “I would have been better off sending our reports and data to Santa. The Government does not take sexual violence seriously.” - Rape Crisis Network Ireland director, Fiona Neary. “This is a Minister for Finance who is beginning to point in the right direction but would have to produce a half dozen of such budgets before he begins to repair the damage his Government has caused since 1997.” - Green party finance spokesman, Deputy Dan Boyle.
“This budget is a very belated admission that budgets since 1997 have failed to address gross inequality. They failed to eliminate poverty and they failed to protect the disadvantaged and people with special needs.” - Sinn Féin finance spokesman Arthur Morgan. “Budget 2005 is unnecessarily cautious ... Nevertheless, it is noteworthy that on a preliminary evaluation and subject to further scrutiny - this budget does not appear to have followed the pattern of previous budgets from this Government in significantly redistributing wealth upwards.” - SIPTU general president, Jack O’Connor.
Minister Cowen today delivered a prudent framework; the challenge facing Government now is to achieve value for money and better outcomes in public services through moving purposefully on performance and productivity.” - IBEC director general, Turlough O’Sullivan.
There are nearly 6,000 people who are homeless and a record number of 48,000 households on local authority housing waiting lists and yet these key areas were not even mentioned in the minister’s speech.” - Focus Ireland policy analyst, Daithi Downey.
“We are utterly appalled at the Government’s inertia on the issue of pensions and childcare, which particularly affect working women, older and low-paid workers, and their families.” - SIPTU national equality secretary, Rosheen Callender. It is imperative that price, a major contributor to the reduction of smoking levels across all sectors of society, will continue to be used.” - Ash chairman Professor Luke Clancy, reacting to the news that excise duties on cigarettes were not to be hiked.
“It would appear that this Government is unable to understand the levels of tax imposed on drink in Ireland and, as a result, competitiveness goes out the window.” - VFI chairman Seamus O’Donoghue, reminding drinkers that excise duty in Ireland, even without a hike yesterday, is 10 times higher than in Germany, while the excise duty on spirits was five times higher than Spain.
