Sinn Féin proposes rent freezes and reversal of PUP cuts in its Alternative Budget

(Left to right) Sinn Féin's Pearse Doherty, Mary Lou McDonald and Mairéad Farrell at today's launch of their Alternative Budget 2021. Photo: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie

Sinn Féin's alternative budget proposes reversing cuts to the PUP, reducing childcare costs by a third and freezing rents.

The party published its alternative ahead of the official government budget on Tuesday.

Alternative Budget 2021 - ‘Rebuilding: stronger, fairer, better’, has been described as "ambitious but necessary" and focuses on jobs and housing amid the ongoing recession and pandemic.

The Government has indicated that it will increase expenditure by €12 billion, Sinn Féin's commits to over €18bn, with additional current expenditure mostly comprised of one-off measures worth a combined €3.5 billion.

The party say they would create jobs through capital investment projects, reduce VAT from 13.5% to 9% for the hospitality sector and extend the commercial rates waiver until June.

"It's time to put the wellbeing of workers and families first," leader Mary Lou McDonald said.

We can't stumble from one housing crisis to another, we can't have workers struggling with the rising cost of living, now is the time to put things right.

The party say they would immediately increase the pay of childcare workers to the living wage of €12.30 and cut the cost of childcare by one third in 2021, at a cost of €70 million in 2021 and €150.5 million in the first full year.

Sinn Féin would double investment in housing and deliver 20,000 social and affordable homes in 2021 and reduce the cost of rent by up to €1500 (one month) and ban increases for three years at a cost of €257 million.

They would also introduce a refundable tax credit of one month’s rent paid back to renters costing €250 million.

Reintroducing the Covid-19 emergency ban on evictions, notices to quit and rent increases, they would also introduce a 3% Stamp Duty Surcharge on Residential Property for Non-resident Investment Funds that purchase private homes.

On health, the party pledge they would deliver 1,100 additional hospital beds and 100 additional ICU beds, while recruiting an additional 2,500 doctors, nurses, consultants, and allied health professionals to safely staff, as well as additional staff for swabbing, testing and tracing.

For disability services, they would increasing funding to meet costs of Covid-19 including day services, respite, personal assistance hours, as well as increasing social welfare payments for people with disabilities by €10 per week costing €82.4 million and increase the annual Carer Support Grant to €2,000.

At a time of great uncertainty, our budget is about giving certainty to workers & families.

It's also a plan to bring our country out of this crisis & rebuild in a better, fairer, stronger way.

See our Budget proposals at https://t.co/2WJiPMEbst #Budget21 #Fairness #Atógáil pic.twitter.com/kpN64TxO8D

— Sinn Féin (@sinnfeinireland) October 9, 2020

Speaking this morning, party finance spokesman Pearse Doherty said: “We can continue to paper over the cracks and allow vested interests to run things as Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have done for decades or we can get things right once and for all.

“We need to support incomes and employers, that is what the IMF are telling countries, now is the time to borrow to make sure you stimulate the economy.

Failure to invest now means we will pay a high price as a society.

"Are we as a State going to step in so people can pay rent and put food on the table? We disagree with the government on the cuts of PUP.

"This budget is all about choices. If I was Minister for Finance, the banks wouldn't be getting away with what they're getting away with.

"If I was Minister I would be putting the necessary resources in so that workers who have lost their jobs are supported and don't see their incomes fall off."