Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have become further entrenched in a war of words on economic credibility, facing off over tax and spending commitments.
On Tuesday, Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe accused Fianna Fáil of inflating figures in its manifesto by as much as €5.2 billion.
In a statement released on Tuesday night by Fine Gael, Mr Donohoe said Fianna Fáil’s numbers did not add up.
“A close examination of the Fianna Fáil manifesto throws up a number of questions that simply cannot be ignored.
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“The costing of the document, which is probably best described as sparse at very best, has figures inflated by as much as €5.2 billion, with no credible explanation given.”
In response, Fianna Fáil dismissed the claims by Fine Gael, saying the €5.2 billion is fully accounted for, and challenged Fine Gael to publish its manifesto and costings.
It came as Fine Gael leader Simon Harris indicated that the party would commit to ending third-level fees in its manifesto. In a social media post on Tuesday evening, he said: “I think we really need to phase out third-level fees”, adding, “I am going to do that, that is absolutely my intention.”
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Elsewhere, Fine Gael will on Wednesday publish a new policy promising to pay a higher rate of parent’s benefit to those who have been in the workforce longer.
Modelled on an overhaul of jobseeker’s benefit, the Government put in place earlier this year, it would see a higher rate of payment for those who take parent’s leave, which will be capped at a max of 60 per cent of salary, or €450 per week.
Currently, parent’s benefit – which is available to parents of children for a period of nine weeks in the first two years of a child’s life – is paid at a rate of €274 per week. Fine Gael will signal an intention to extend the benefit to other forms of parental leave over time.
It comes as Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien raised questions over a Green Party policy to reform the Coalition’s flagship Help to Buy scheme – which most opposition parties say they would scrap and retention of which Fianna Fáil has made a red-line issue for government-formation talks.
The Greens want to include new price limits on the scheme depending on where a property is located, rather than the across-the-board €500,000 price cap currently in place. The party is suggesting using price caps that are in place in the Government’s shared equity First Home scheme.
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Mr O’Brien said: “On the face of it, it looks like they are going to restrict people from accessing it, add complexity to a very straightforward scheme which is administered by Revenue and, while doing so, create a deep level of uncertainty for prospective buyers.”
Elsewhere, Sinn Féin and the Greens faced off over carbon tax, which was criticised by Mary Lou McDonald on Tuesday as not having brought down emissions. A Green Party statement said Ms McDonald effectively wanted to “slash the fuel allowance and consign older and poorer people to live in cold, draughty homes”.
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