Failure to introduce mini-Budget having devastating effects – Bacik

Labour leader Ivana Bacik TD called out Government’s failure to spend wisely during Leaders’ Questions in the Dáil today.

Deputy Bacik said communities have been deserted by Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil during the crippling cost of living crisis through their failure to enact a mini-Budget. Deputy Bacik called on Government to vote to support Labour’s mini-Budget proposals tomorrow.

Deputy Bacik said:

“The fighting talk from Minister Chambers this week is an admission that this Government are not spending wisely. Before the election, money was no object. Every gimmick was rolled out to buy people’s votes with their own money.

“Yet now when those same communities actually need support, they have been deserted by Government. When the VAT cut comes in on 1^st July, working families will still be worse off. Meanwhile, McDonald’s will be €20mn better off, and Supermacs, with revenues of nearly €300mn, will save €12mn due to the VAT cut.

“Politics is about choices, which is why I am once again urging Government to vote with the Labour Party tomorrow night to introduce a substantial package for PAYE workers that would index tax bands and credits, bring in a targeted energy credit and provide a €100 grocery support supplement for families.

“Increasingly Ireland is a two-tier Ireland. There is a layer who are insulated from rising costs, yet they are profiting from them. Too many PAYE workers are working hard, but crushed by the increasing weight of the cost of living burden that they are bearing. The wealth gap is growing, Ireland is becoming more and more unequal.

“It’s not happening by accident, but by design. It is the modus operandi of this right-wing Government to provide tax breaks for big business, incentives to evict for unscrupulous landlords and financial support packages limited to those sectors that shout the loudest.”