Taxation, health, housing and climate the areas to be prioritised

Reform of the health system, energy, and how best to tackle the housing crisis are among the priority issues in the new programme for government

- With additional reporting from Daniel McConnell and Juno McEnroe

Taxation, housing, health and climate have been given prominence in the new programme for government, amid a push to develop opportunities for change from the Covid19 pandemic.

One major issue from February's election, the pension age increase, has been deferred pending a new commission.

The new commission is to "report by June 2021", after which the government will take action on the basis of the recommendations made within six months.

Pending the report, the State Pension age will remain at 66. Other major changes include a commitment to ending the Direct Provision system, replacing it with a new not-for-profit accommodation policy, a cap on childcare fees and an extension to parental leave.

The changes to Local Property Tax will see around 80,000 newer homes, currently exempt from the LPT, brought into the net of the tax.

“We will also bring new homes, which are currently exempt from the LPT, into the taxation system. All money collected locally will be retained within the county. This will be done on the basis that those counties with a lower LPT base are adjusted via an annual national equalisation fund paid from the Exchequer, as is currently the case,” the document adds.

The Programme for Government also commits to establishing a Commission on Welfare and Taxation to “independently consider how best the tax system can support economic activity”

In relation to the Local Property Tax (LPT), the parties have committed to bringing forward legislation for the Local Property Tax on the basis of fairness and that “most homeowners will face no increase.”

In health, implementing Sláintecare is seen as a key priority, with a promise to finalise the new Sláintecare consultant contract and legislate for public-only work in public hospitals. They also promise to extend medical cards to the terminally ill, extend free GP care to more children and cap parking charges in hospitals.

Significant work will be done for women’s health, mental health and drug treatment policy including full implementation of the recommendations contained in Dr Scally’s Reports of the Scoping Inquiry, and all other reports into Cervical Check and free contraception over a phased period, starting with women aged 17-25. The document also states a plan to legislate to ban conversion therapy.

The parties say leadership at the highest level, with the Cabinet Committee on Health, chaired by the Taoiseach, will give overall strategic direction and will oversee implementation of Sláintecare.

Trolleys and waiting lists have plagued previous governments, an issue it appears they wanted to tackle head-on. Under this banner, the document commits to creating significant additional capacity the parties will invest in healthcare infrastructure and equipment, together with the recommendations of the Capacity Review, in line with Project Ireland 2040.

Over the lifetime of the Government, they say they will seek to expand universal access to healthcare in a manner which fair and affordable.

In terms of drugs and addiction, promises have been made to review the regulations and legislation that apply to cannabis use for medical conditions and palliative care having regard to the experience in Northern Ireland and Great Britain, and convene a Citizens’ Assembly to consider matters relating to drugs use.

The housing crisis, which has been a consistent sore spot for the previous government, sees commitments made to cheap housing, better supports for tenants and an overhaul of planning regulations are promised. The deal says:

“We understand that provision of more affordable housing has a profound benefit socially and economically and believe the State has a fundamental role in enabling the delivery of new homes and ensuring that best use is made of existing stock.”

Measures listed include putting affordability at the heart of the housing system and prioritising the increased supply of public, social and affordable homes.

There will also be a state-backed affordable home purchase scheme to promote home-ownership while the social housing stock will be increased by more than 50,000, with an emphasis on new builds. It says that the next minister for Housing will “bring forward a target for the delivery of affordable homes over the lifetime of the Government to be available for qualifying purchasers as a matter of priority”.

Those affordable homes will be delivered through local authorities (Serviced Sites Fund), requirements under Part V and by the Land Development Agency. Properties will be sold through the State-backed Affordable Purchase Scheme.

The help-to-buy scheme will also be expanded while the mortgage to rent scheme will be strengthened.

There is also a pledge to increase the social housing stock by over 50,000 over the next five-years, the majority of which are to be built by local authorities.

There will be a cost rental model, similar to the ‘Vienna Model’ and others, for the construction and management of properties.

The new government will also reduce the reliance on the use of HAP for new social housing solutions while the residential tenancies board will be transformed into an independent and strong regulator for tenants and landlords.

Climate and transport have both been given prominence in the document, seen as a significant win for the Green Party, with a Green New Deal as one of its missions, committing to a 7% per annum reduction in carbon emissions.

"The Government is committed to a 2:1 ratio of expenditure between new public transport infrastructure and new roads over its lifetime," the document states.

On climate, the ambition has been described as a "change of pace, rather than a change of direction", the document commits to implementing the Climate Action bill in the first 100 days of government, establishing a national clean air strategy which would extend the ban on smoky coal and to deliver 500,000 retrofits to homes by 2030.

The potential future government say they will be dramatically stepping up in offshore renewables, with solar energy coming onto the grid for the first time and will end the issuing of new licenses for exploration and extraction of gas, abandoning the Shannon LNG terminal from the EU Projects of Common Interest list in 2021 has also been committed to.

Accelerated electrification of the transport system including electric bikes, electric vehicles and electric public transport alongside a ban on new registrations of petrol and diesel cars from 2030 and a strategy for remote working and remote service delivery, taking advantage of the opportunity for rapid roll-out of the National Broadband Plan, have also been included.

In farming, reform to the CAP has been proposed, to reward farmers for sequestering carbon, restoring biodiversity, and improving water and air quality.

The government also commits to ensuring that the financial viability of food production systems are maintained and enhanced, while increasing environmental and biodiversity, and ensuring the Beef Market Taskforce implements the agreement reached with stakeholders.

A Commission on the Future of the Defence Forces is also to be established with a plan to have a permanent review body examine Defence Force pay and conditions once the Commission has concluded its work.