Sinn Féin to counter Coalition’s chaos threat with claim of ‘real change’

Sinn Féin strategists are preparing to counter the Government’s election message of stability versus chaos by claiming the party is the only one which can provide proper change.

Sinn Féin is preparing to launch policy documents in the coming weeks and months to sketch out its positions on issues ahead of the next general election.

Sources say its emphasis will be on asking voters the type of Ireland they would like to live in, as well as placing a "fair recovery" at the centre of its efforts.

However, this message is also expected to be used by other, if not all, political parties.

“We’ll be telling people ‘if you want real change, then vote for it’,” said one party figure, with its main policy planks to be in health, housing, banking and “fair taxation”.

Disability benefits

However, its focus in the coming weeks will be on social protection measures, specifically on measures for those on disability benefits.

Sinn Féin says people with a disability are more than twice as likely to be unemployed, and greater efforts must be made to allow those who want to work to do so.

The party says those on disability benefits should be able to take up work but have the safety net of returning to their benefits if needed.

“The Jobseeker’s Allowance scheme includes a special fast-track system which allows claims to be suspended for up to 12 weeks if you find work and reinstated without delay should you cease working within the 12-week period,” the Sinn Féin policy document says.

“Applications for disability allowance, as with all schemes involving medical eligibility criteria, can take many stressful months to complete and process. A facility should be allowed within the disability allowance scheme to allow a person suspend their claim for a period of up to 12 months but have it reinstated promptly should they become unable to work again, without having to make a fresh application.

“Many disabilities, including mental health disabilities, can be intermittent in their impact. Fear of the total loss of disability allowance may be serving to inhibit some people who wish to try entering work or increasing their hours of work in excess of the means test cut-off point.”

Critical

Sinn Féin was also critical of the Youth Guarantee scheme, championed by Tánaiste Joan Burton, because it excludes people with disabilities.

The scheme aims to ensure every person under 24 years gets a job, training or educational opportunity. Sinn Féin says it is confined to those on the Live Register, thus excluding young people with disabilities.

It is also critical of the exclusion of those on disabilities from a programme called Momentum, which funds training and education programmes to allow unemployed people gain more skills and access work in sectors of the economy which are growing.

Sinn Féin says these policy changes can be immediate.