The government have brought in a budget aimed at buying votes to stop the end of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael rule.
They had a huge surplus of €14 billion to spend which they had mainly gotten from the tax receipts of US corporations. These corporations scour the world for low tax opportunities and think Ireland is one of their best tax havens.
But even if the money came from dubious sources, they could have used it to deal with some of the key crises in Irish society.
But they completely failed.
They did not increase the targets for housing beyond the figure already stated in Housing for All. They boast that the number of social houses will match the figure set in 1975. But the population has increased by one-third since then.
They gave tax breaks to landlords claiming that this will stop them fleeing the rental market. But these will cost double the tiny tax break given to tenants.
10% of patients are stuck on a hospital list for more than 18 months. But there is no serious attempt to bring about a one-tier system where medical treatment does not depend on your wallet.
They gave increases to social welfare payments, but this does not replace all the lost spending power from the steep inflation we have seen since 2020.
The government’s strategy is to give out once-off payments in the hope that this will sweeten the electorate.
But as People Before Profit has said ‘Poverty isn’t a once off’.
If this right-wing government cannot even use a €14 billion surplus to ensure real change, then we have to get rid of them.
You can read People Before Profit’s alternative budget here.
