Sinn Féin Councillor Chris O'Leary has said the government’s four year plan for the economy is an attempt to make the unemployed, the sick, the low paid and students pay for the sins of the wealthy, and will only deepen the recession.
“This plan lets the wealthy off the hook, while hitting low and middle income earners hardest once again. And for what? Every penny of every tax increase and every spending cut will go to paying off the debt incurred for bailing out the banks."
“Not only is this plan morally wrong, it is economic lunacy. Nearly €14.5 billion was taken out of the economy in the past two years and the result is the recession is worse. Now they want to take out another €15 billion."
“Increasing VAT will not grow the economy, it will see people flooding across the border to shop and kill business in this state."
“Reducing the minimum wage and social welfare will reduce disposable income and lead to decreased consumer confidence and further job losses. The Government should be concentrating on getting people into jobs in order to lessen the social welfare bill."
“Reducing the tax band to €15,000 will bring thousands of low earners into the tax net but they are not increasing the top tax rate or targeting high earners."
“Increasing student charges from €1,500 to €2,000 will exclude thousands of students from college – parents will be faced with choices of ‘do we pay our mortgage or do we send our children to college?"
“There are alternatives. A 1% wealth tax on the assets of Ireland's 33,000 millionaires, for example, would bring in €5 billion over the next four years. However the government have chosen not to follow them."
"This is not a plan for recovery - it is an attack on the poor, the sick, the low paid and the young which will only prolong the recession and delay recovery."