Labour and Greens to launch manifestos

Labour and the Green Party will launch their election manifestos in Dublin today.

Labour will launch their manifesto at the Aviva stadium, while the Green Party will hold a formal launch this afternoon. The party has already released part of its manifesto on Twitter .

Fianna Fáil will outline its policy on health while Fine Gael will launch its plan to keep business afloat, including halving employers’ PRSI for low-paid jobs for three years and freezing local commercial rates.

Enterprise spokesman Richard Bruton says they are also proposing a temporary partial loan guarantee for businesses.

"Banks are very risk averse at the moment and a loan guarantee...should be introduced here," he said.

"That would ensure banks would not be turning their backs on small business, but would see there's an opportunity to share the load with the State, and get vital employment going in these companies."