Budget cuts - About time to target rich

HAVING hammered some of the most vulnerable in society, from low-paid workers, to schoolchildren, Travellers and immigrants, not to mention the attempted mugging of the elderly, the Government has finally come around to its pre-budget pledge to target the rich.

If a 3% levy on high rollers earning more than €250,000 a year formed part of last month’s budget, some unpopular and unjustified cuts might have been averted. Expected to be in Thursday’s Finance Bill, giving effect to budget decisions, we can be sure such a levy will not trigger street protests.

Not surprisingly, given this Government’s love affair with property tycoons, we learn from Labour TD Joan Burton that in 2006 tax relief for property-based schemes was worth 20 times more than relief for small and medium sized productive enterprises. Equally unsurprising, with FF’s popularity at an all-time low, the coalition has little stomach for taking on the issue of public sector pay, which is way out of kilter with the private sector and a heavy burden on the exchequer.