It was back to basics for Sinn Féin on Tuesday as the party launched its general election manifesto which sets out to target three key groups: workers, families and young people.
The manifesto was launched just past the halfway point in the general election campaign, prompting Government parties to accuse Sinn Féin of deliberately delaying scrutiny of the document.
The manifesto itself is made up of bread-and-butter Sinn Féin ideas: taxing the wealthy, increasing the minimum wage, abolishing the USC for wages up to €45,000, delivering a €10-a-day childcare plan, promising 300,000 new homes.
All told, the extra spending promises – in terms of both current and capital spending – amount to €56 billion.
While this election campaign has not yet settled on one defining theme, the focus is very much on how each party plans to fund their big spending promises, and how party leaders plan to protect the public finances in an increasingly unstable world.
One of the key promises made by Sinn Féin is that the party would abolish the property tax, starting with a 20 per cent cut next year. The property tax brings in north of €500 million a year, and accounts for somewhere around 7 per cent of local Government revenue. The party’s finance spokesman Pearse Doherty acknowledged on Tuesday that this would leave local authorities with a significant funding gap, and so, if in government, he would use government revenue to plug that gap.
At the same time, the party wants to abolish the USC on all incomes up to the median wage of €45,000, while free medical cards would also be given to this same income bracket. The total cost of those tax changes and the party’s health package is more than €5 billion combined, some of which would be offset by a €1 billion taxation of high earners plan along with €500 million in other wealth-type levies, such as the introduction of a second-home charge of €400.
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The Government parties have accused Sinn Féin of attempting to narrow the tax base in a move which, they say, will see tax receipts fall away. They have also accused Sinn Féin of a €16 billion “piggy bank” heist, saying the party wants to “raid” two long-term funds – the Future Ireland Fund and the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund. Not so, says Doherty. He says Sinn Féin won’t touch them, and will actually add a €15 billion projected surplus in on top of them.
Political strategists across all of the main parties believe that voters in this election will make their final choice based on who they trust the most with the economy. With nearly all of the manifestos now published, voters may find that they are that bit closer to making up their minds as the campaign enters its crucial second phase.
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