Labour unveils campaign manifesto

The Labour Party published its election manifesto promising sober economic management this morning amid ironic smiles at the Fianna Fáil's conversion to the merits of stamp duty reform.

Party leader Pat Rabbitte said the Minister for Finance Brian Cowen had "boomed and bellowed" that there would no change to stamp duty. "This morning he does a U-turn".

Referring to the controversy concerning the purchase of the Taoiseach's house, Mr Rabbitte quipped that Mr Cown might look to backdate the proposed stamp duty reforms to 1994 to solve some of his other problems.

Mr Rabbitte said that Ireland has a "strong economy but a weak society". He said Labour in government would not take the strength of the economy for granted and would work to restore competitiveness.

"We have not used the fruits of growth to build the kind of society that our people deserve, or that we can be proud to bequeath to our children."

He said the increasing affluence of many people, mostly as a result of increases in the value of their property, was not solving all problems.

"I know of someone with three 'teenagers' at home: aged 25, 26 and 29. They can't buy a place to live," he said.

Ruling out any changes to either capital gains tax or corporation tax, Mr Rabbitte said education was at the core of the party's vision for the future. Hand-in-hand with this was a plan to deal with anti-social behaviour, he said, adding: "Some children are unfortunately lost to society before they get to school."

Asked how Labour's policies were different from Fine Gael's Mr Rabbitte said his party's election manifesto was imbued with Labour values of social solidarity and social inclusion. He added that coalition governments were now a fact of life and, alluding to to Fianna Fáil's reversal on stamp duty, noted agreement was rare even within one party.

One tax reform that the party is planning is a Commission on Taxation, which would review the taxation code "on an ongoing basis", according to Labour finance spokeswoman Joan Burton.

She said this was to ensure that super wealthy individuals were not in a position to pay little or no tax.

Key points in Labour election manifesto.

• 2 per cent cut in standard tax rate
• Homecarers' credit to rise from €770 to €1,760
• Reform stamp duty to favour first-time buyers
• Support 100,000 people to train and further their education over next five years
• 2,300 more hospital beds oppose co-located private hospitals
• Cap class sizes at 25
• 500 new buses for Dublin Bus and a €1 flat fare
• 50 per cent renewable energy by 2020
• 10,000 social housing units a year