Mary Lou McDonald has described as “ridiculous” Fianna Fáil Senator Donie Cassidy’s suggestion that politicians are experiencing a race to the bottom in terms of wages. Ms McDonald noted, “Senators, TDs and Ministers earn multiples of the average industrial wage. That is why Sinn Féin in it’s Budget 2011 proposals will call for a reduction in all politicians incomes including a 20% cut in TDs salaries and a 40% cut for Minister’s leaving cabinet members with a more than generous salary of €100,000 per year.”
Speaking from her Dublin Central constituency office the Sinn Féin Vice President said: “The irony of government Ministers arriving to Farmleigh in their Mercs to discuss cutting social welfare payments in the forthcoming budget is not lost on thousands of struggling families across the country.
“The government’s refusal to focus on job creation and growth since the crisis began continues to be a thorn in the side of economic recovery. History demonstrates that major financial crises are followed by a prolonged period of high unemployment. Yet Fianna Fáil and the Greens have pursued a simplistic austerity economic model that has served only to deepen the crisis and protract unemployment. It appears from the cabinet’s discussions in Farmleigh that little has changed. Attacking the low paid and unemployed and protecting the wealthy at all costs remains the order of the day
“Not surprisingly Labour and Fine Gael have joined the government parties in a cosy consensus that in order to grow a little you must cut a lot. Sinn Féin believes to grow at all you must first invest. Addressing the deficit is just one pillar to economic recovery and the reality is that there are a myriad of fair measures to put monies back into the public purse. For example, standardising all discretionary tax reliefs and introducing a third tax rate of 48% on individual incomes in excess of €100,000 per year could raise over €1.5 billion. Sinn Féin also challenges the collective refusal by the cosy consensus to acknowledge the implications of the government’s banking policy on the public finances not just for 2011, but also for many budgets to come.
“Sinn Féin will launch its Budget submission over the coming weeks. It is a comprehensive progressive economic alternative that focuses on job creation, taxation justice, an end to wasteful expenditure and a sensible deficit reduction timeline. The people and economy deserve better than a reshuffling of bums on Dáil seats. Now is the time for honest, fair and innovative politics.” ENDS
