Taxation: The Green Party in government would introduce some new taxes but only on the basis that other taxes be reduced at the same time, the party's finance spokesman, Dan Boyle, said.
He said the party wanted corporation tax to rise from 12.5 per cent to 15 per cent. This rate would still be lower than the rate in Hong Kong, and would be "even lower than some in the Economic and Social Research Institute have said is a sustainable rate for Ireland to be levying".
The party would replace commercial rates with a tax on the value of sites, "a policy that we are pleased to see finds support from the Chambers of Commerce in Ireland".
Its proposed carbon tax would be largely paid by industry. "The proceeds of this tax would be used to reduce VAT, to reduce labour taxes such as PRSI contributions and to increase social welfare payments."
Without a carbon tax the costs of meeting our environmental obligations under the Kyoto Treaty would be met by increasing other taxes unfairly and probably at far greater risk of causing economic damage.
Mismanagement and overspending by the Government since 1997 had cost possibly an entire year's worth of Exchequer spending. "And this is a Government made up of political parties that call the Green Party crazy.
"Instead of taking responsibility for this abuse of public expenditure, the parties of this Government would prefer to invent myths on the supposed economic incompetence of opposition political parties."
He condemned the PDs for pushing "to sell as many capital assets as possible to meet current expenditure needsThis is a party whose sole contribution to the crisis facing our health system has been to export patients for treatment abroad rather than invest in facilities for treating our citizens in this country."
He listed examples of what he said was the mismanagement and overspending by the Government.
These included the €2 billion the illegal nursing home charges issue might cost, the €1 billion the residential redress scheme may cost, and the increase in the cost of the national roads programme from €6 billion to €20 billion.
To cater for the expected "bulge" in pension payments in 20 years' time, he proposed a longer-term version of the Special Savings Investment Scheme aimed at those on average and below-average incomes.