Noonan promises tax cuts in FG bid to shore-up votes

Tax cuts have been promised by Finance Minister Michael Noonan as Fine Gael moved to shore up its vote in the looming elections.

Expressing the need to reduce the tax burden on middle-income workers, Mr Noonan used the launch of the party’s local election campaign to announce: “I hope we’ll be able to start the job in the budget in mid-October.”

Mr Noonan said it was a “priority” to lift the entry point for the 40% bracket from the current €32,800.

“Over the next two budgets we will do that,” said Mr Noonan.

Talking up the economic recovery, Mr Noonan said tax receipts for April were up 9% on a year ago, and he wanted to use the proceeds from growth to cut taxes over the next two budgets before the expected general election in early 2016.

However, Labour leader Eamon Gilmore appeared cooler on tax cuts, stating that the situation would need to be assessed nearer to the October budget.

Fine Gael’s plans for local authority reform would include making it easier for recent tenants to buy their own homes, and to allow residents to change the names of their streets and estates.

A “simple majority” of registered voters would be needed to switch names, the party’s manifesto for the May 23 poll said.

“In the spirit of devolution, the Minister for Environment will introduce new regulations as part of ongoing local government reforms to make it easier for residents to change the name of a street or locality by a simple majority of the registered electors,” the document stated.

Fine Gael said its councillors would aim to reduce local property tax rates where possible up to the 15% limit allowed under legislation.

In a push to sell off some 116,000 local authority properties to tenants, the party will seek to offer new discounts to people who have recently moved to council houses and flats.

A tenant purchase scheme has been discussed at Cabinet with the initiative expected to offer the biggest discounts to households with the lowest incomes.

In order to deter profit seekers, the scheme will be set-up so as to “discourage the sale of the property in the years following the purchase by the tenant”.

Enda Kenny said the party hoped to take 350 seats in the local elections, which would leave Fine Gael roughly where it is now following the abolition of a range of authorities.

Meanwhile, writs for the Longford-Westmeath and Dublin West by-elections will be held on the same day as the local and Euro elections.