Labour has pledged not to increase personal tax rates or corporation tax in government but may bring forward proposals to tax wealth and end various tax reliefs, party leader Pat Rabbitte said yesterday.
Speaking at the opening of Labour's two-day parliamentary party meeting, Mr Rabbitte said the party was examining every aspect of the tax code, but would put forward its taxation proposals only close to election day.
"The area of taxation will not be addressed by us publicly until battle is joined in a General Election campaign or shortly before it. That follows time-honoured practice."
He dismissed as "over-excited bleatings" the demands from Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats that Fine Gael and Labour should publish their programme for government now.
However, his assurances that his party would not increase personal or corporate taxation was a response to claims by Michael McDowell and Fianna Fáil Ministers that Labour was planning to increase taxes.
He told a press conference that the buoyancy of Government revenue was so great that there was no need to increase personal tax rates. "Therefore I have said that Labour in government will not increase personal tax rates."
He also ruled out increasing the 12.5 per cent Corporation Tax rate, saying Fine Gael and Labour had settled on this policy in the first place.
"Ruairí Quinn as finance minister, myself as commerce minister and Richard Bruton as industry minister settled on that issue in 1997 and the Labour Party has no intention of departing from it. The reason is that we believe that as an instrument of industrial policy it has conferred some advantage on Ireland."
He said he would not rule out taxes on wealth in certain circumstances but he was not talking about "a 1970-style wealth tax". Labour was also examining the tax holiday for stallion fees.
"We have said that in terms of various tax incentives and tax shelters that each of them ought to be assessed in terms of whether there is an economic benefit."
He said there had been an "ugly response" from some to the recent Rip-Off Republic series. The anonymous supply of material to journalists concerning Eddie Hobbs had been "quite sick-making".
In relation to the efforts being made to link him to the collapse of the Taylor group, he said: "I can say that I was the commerce minister at the time the investigation was carried out and while I am prohibited from saying what was in the report I can say that it did not implicate Eddie Hobbs in wrongdoing. I think it is disgraceful that the kind of denigratory whispering campaign against him can be allowed to go on."
He dismissed recent calls from Michael McDowell for Fine Gael and Labour to publish their election programme now. He indicated it was very unlikely that Labour would end up in a coalition involving Mr McDowell's party. The Irish Times/TNS mrbi poll before the summer break had shown no Labour voters favoured such an option.
"I have a very high regard for Labour voters and I would be very unlikely not to recognise their views."
He said the PDs were seeking to define their identity by claiming to be opposed to the Groceries Order. "Mary Harney was the Minister for the Groceries Order for seven years," he said. "The Competition Authority and the Department and the Review Group advised her to abolish it or change it so she didn't do so. And now she is going to walk out of Government [ if it isn't abolished].
"This is about PD prancing to try and set out a separate identity and it is about no more than that."
He said the Fianna Fáil response to the emergence of a possible alternative government had been "over the top, ill judged and threadbare. The little clutch of PDs at the corner table in the Merrion Hotel joined in the clamour. The Government parties have now embarked apparently on a campaign of hysterical attack and reckless distortion that is little short of panic."
Mr Rabbitte said his own favourite is Michael McDowell, "who professes to believe that a Labour/Fine Gael government would mean economic ruin". He added that "a majority of people consider that the only disaster would be his inclusion".