SF says wealth tax plan would go to a commission

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald at the launch of Sinn Fein's alternative budget at the Communication Workers' Union, Dublin. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

Sinn Féin has said that it is still "committed" to the principle of a wealth tax, but if in government the party would send the proposal to a commission as it had "too little analysis". 

The 1% tax on net assets above €1m was a cornerstone of the party's manifesto in 2011 and Sinn Féin has said it would raise around €150m a year. However, at Wednesday's launch of the Sinn Féin alternative budget, party finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty said that the move would instead be referred to a Wealth Tax Commission.

Mr Doherty said that this would be necessary because there had been "too little analysis" on the tax. He said that the previous figures were based on an ESRI report which was done many years ago, but that Sinn Féin remains "committed to the principle of a wealth tax". 

Sinn Féin leaders denied that its alternative budget is conservative, with the party's top figures saying it offered a "real chance for change".

While the document launched in Dublin on Wednesday contains many measures which are tipped for inclusion in the Government's document next Tuesday, Mr Doherty said that this was because Sinn Féin had "won the argument" on issues like a USC cut.

The €6.8bn alternative budget includes a €1.35bn cost-of-living package which would include "target and temporary" mortgage interest relief at a cost of €140m as well as an energy price cap which would cost €408m for January to April.

Sinn Féin would build 13,000 social homes next year, above the Government’s target of 9,300 homes, and 8,000 affordable homes, above the Government’s target of 4,400.

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said the budget aimed to appeal to anybody who needed a house.

“Anybody who’s a sofa surfer, anybody who is living in the box room of their ma or da or grandparents’ house, anybody who is getting hammered with extortionate rent, people who are struggling and who each week doing their groceries, trying to meet their bills,” she said.

“I think it has a particular resonance for people who are younger, who are coming along and who haven’t yet got their foot on the property ladder.”

The Sinn Féin budget also pledged to increase weekly welfare rates by €15, and increase core pension rates by €10.

Sinn Féin’s public expenditure spokesperson Rose Conway-Walsh said the alternative budget also showed “how serious” the party was about climate change.

“It’s reckless in the extreme to not increase investment in the green transition,” she said.

At the event, Ms McDonald also reiterated her apology to Mairia Cahill. The former Labour senator claims she was raped by a member of the IRA in 1997 and was forced to face her abuser as the paramilitary group conducted its own inquiries. Ms McDonald said that such a scenario "could not occur" in today's Sinn Féin.

"I take this opportunity to repeat again our unreserved apology to Mairia Cahill for the ordeal that she was put through. I know it's extremely difficult for any person to step forward to untangle their story in the confident way that she has and I commend her as ever for that."