SF accuses FG of 'plagiarising' Govt Budget

Sinn Féin Spokesperson on Finance Pearse Doherty has accused Fine Gael of "plagiarising" the Government’s budget plans in their pre-Budget submission, while Labour have "shown their true colours" as they plan to "lay off public sector workers" in their pre-Budget submission.

Mr Doherty said if Fine Gael was to lead the next Government, Ireland will continue on the same track that Fianna Fáil has led the country on and "people should be worried".

He said: "The Fine Gael pre-Budget submission is everything you would expect from Fianna Fáil, social welfare cuts, cuts to public sector workers, property taxes and support for water charges.

Fine Gael identified savings in welfare fraud, but Finance spokesman Michael Noonan admitted cuts in most welfare payments of €18 a week over four years would be made.

"Enda Kenny as a Taoiseach in waiting believes that he should reduce his wages to €200,000 a year while he believes that social welfare recipients can take a cut of €18 a week.

"There are no provisions to target inequalities or to protect those at the bottom. It also contains no consideration of the impact of the proposed deflationary measures.

"Fine Gael’s response to the jobs crisis is to thrust 30,000 more people into unemployment.

"The proposal to raise the standard rate of VAT to 23% by 2013 is economically backward and will have a devastating effect on local businesses and employment in border counties.

"The most shocking part of this submission is Fine Gael’s subservience to the 2014 deadline which the European Commission has already accepted is unrealistic for Ireland. Not only have Fine Gael subscribed to the €15bn in cuts but they have reinforced their policy to meet the Stability and Growth Pact by 2014, at a time when the future of the State has been mortgaged to bail out banks.

On the Labour Party’s pre-budget submission, Mr Doherty said it buys into the same deflationary approach of both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael "that targets those least able to pay".

Mr Doherty said: "Labour, in their pre-Budget submission, have shown their true colours.

"Laying off public sector workers is on the Labour agenda for 2011. As opposed to redeployment and a root-and-branch examination of the entire public sector, they intend to sack thousands of public sector workers next year.

"It proposes to reduce personal tax credits by €250. This is a tax on low earners by the back door. It leaves people with less disposable income and will inevitably target low income earners hardest.

"At a time when the CEO of a semi-state body is earning the annual income of someone on social welfare in just one week, Labour proposes a menial cap on all public sector and political salaries at €190,000. This is not burden sharing.

"Sinn Féin would cap ministerial salaries at €100,000, TDs’ salaries at €75,000, and senators’ salaries at €60,000 while the maximum salary of public servants would be €100,000.

"The reduction of €1.2bn in capital expenditure next year that Labour proposes will not just ensure that vital projects such as schools and roads don’t see the light of day, but will also ensure that those with the skills to build them will languish on the dole.

Mr Dohery went on to say that Labour’s pre-budget submission has "firmly placed them at the heart of the consensus for cuts".

"They have bought into the deflationary approach of both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael that targets the those least able to pay."