Next budget should reverse cuts and protect the vulnerable — Social Justice Ireland

The Government could spend money on social housing and invest in rural broadband by overhauling the corporate tax regime and extending the Universal Social Charge levy of 3% to all income over €100,000, Social Justice Ireland said yesterday.

The social rights group produced what it said was a fully costed budget, which SJI director Sean Healy claimed could “protect the vulnerable, invest in social housing and disability services, and roll-out rural broadband”.

To raise revenue, SJI claimed that a “minimum effective corporate tax rate” should be introduced that would ensure all corporations in Ireland pay at least 6% tax on their profits here.

Other revenue-raising measures include increasing the tax take on online gambling to 5%, introducing a “bad nutrition tax” on the main components of junk food, fast food, and soft drinks, as well as introducing a tax of one third of a cent on each text sent by SMS through mobile phones or any other devices.

SJI also proposes a Financial Transactions Tax and increasing savings made in public procurement, among other measures.

Dr Healy said such proposals, if adopted in October’s budget, would actually facilitate spending in a number of needy areas.

SJI said borrowing could be brought below 3% of GDP in 2015, while €250m could be invested in social housing and €200m in rural broadband services.

The SJI budget also envisages a €65m spend on up to 15 community nursing facilities, €50m for the infrastructural development of Primary Care Teams, €50m for the infrastructural development of Children and Family Services and a €35m investment in developing Community Mental Health teams.

It also proposes an income contingent student loan facility which it claims would save the exchequer €445m in 2015.

Dr Healy said such a budget would help protect the most vulnerable in society.

“To date the burden has fallen hardest on those who could least afford to carry it,” he said.

Michelle Murphy, research and policy analyst with SJI, said that there was “an urgent need to reverse the regressive nature of each of the Budgets introduced by the current Government”, adding: “The proposals outlined in our briefing are feasible and possible in Budget 2015.”

lRead the proposals at www.socialjustice.ie/content/policy-briefing-budget-choices-2015