Sinn Féin finance spokesman Pearse Doherty has claimed the budget was the epitome of the "boom-bust politics of the past" and the Coalition had "truly stolen Fianna Fáil's clothes".
The budget held no resemblance to the proclamation of 1916 or the democratic programme of the first Dáil, Mr Doherty told Taoiseach Enda Kenny.
“You’ve not delivered equal rights and equal opportunities to all of Ireland’s citizens. You’ve resolved only to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the top 14 per cent,” he said.
“You’ve stuffed € 181.9 million into the pockets of the top 14 per cent and you throw a few crumbs from the table to the rest.”
The cut to the USC and the changes to PRSI would put over three times more in the pocket of someone earning €70,000 a year compared to the average worker, he said.
Those earning €25,000 a year would get €227 annually, but individuals earning over €70,000 a year would get over €900 back into their pockets.
By reducing capital tax by 13 per cent and reducing tax on wealth, the Government had hollowed out the tax base for the long term. The full year effect amounted to €882 million less in tax, he went on.
Frontline services
The Government’s ambition for frontline services was that “they make do with what they have and you stand over a policy to starve the health, education and childcare budgets of the resources necessary to deliver” proper public services.
In a sharp attack on the Government’s approach to dealing with the housing crisis, he asked what it would take before the State acknowledged the “depth of crisis in emergency and social housing”.
If the Government declared a housing emergency, “flexibilities could and would be secured with our EU partners to enable the state increase its investment in social housing and emergency accommodation”.
Sinn Féin deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald said the wealthiest 250 individuals in the State increased their wealth by 16 per cent to €75 billion over the last 12 months.
‘That is a lie’
Ms McDonald said the Taoiseach claimed that “going easy on the wealthy is a necessary precondition for economic growth and shared prosperity. That is a lie. Real recovery will not be possible without the wealthy paying their fair share.”
The Dublin Central TD said half of those at work in the State earned €28,000 or less. “Only the top 5 per cent of workers earn €100,000 or more,” she told the Taoiseach.
“Yourself, the Tánaiste, your Ministerial colleagues and those you rub shoulders with included.”
She criticised the failure to introduce a third tax band for those earning over €100,000, but the income threshold for USC was €13,000 and meant those on minimum wage would still pay the USC.
She said eliminating the charge for those on the new minimum wage “would be a real shot in the arm for low wage workers and for their spending power”.
