Ireland is in a state of financial meltdown. Over four hundred and fifty thousand people are unemployed. Tax take in will be down this year despite the gross wealth of Irish households now standing at €1 trillion, and net wealth of households growing by €24 billion last year. To put it simply, this country is broken and the system responsible for mending it is inadequate. New thinking is required, and radical change drastically needed.
Our current government are slaves to the orthodoxy of Austerity. They believe that when times are hard, instead of trying to make them better through stimulus and job creation, you should slash government spending and tighten your belts. They firmly believe this and want you to believe it too. That is why the media are working overtime to support the idea that savage cuts are the only game in town. The very sad thing is that they are wrong, and the people who will pay for their mistake are the most vulnerable in our society.
We have had three years of government cuts now, and it is clear that they have completely failed to improve the situation, and have in fact hurt our economy. Madness by definition is repeating the same action over and over and expecting a different outcome. Our governments savage cuts plan is madness.
To improve our economy and cut the deficit we need to examine the true nature of our problem. Cutting spending puts people out of work, bringing your tax down and welfare up. Cutting welfare means less private spending and damage to the local economy which leads to more people losing their jobs, bringing your tax down lower and your welfare up higher. More people in work brings more tax in and saves on welfare payments. Simple?
Not simple, but certainly
attainable.
Sinn Féin proposes introducing a €7 billion stimulus, administered out over the next 3.5 years in a mass state wide investment programme. The National Development Plan could be redrawn to focus on the more labour intensive and necessary needed infrastructure. Lets put the unemployed from the construction sector back to work building new schools, hospitals, converting empty houses to social housing and improving energy efficiency in homes. Lets employ people to take on specific clerical work from overworked frontline workers like Gardai. Lets put Ireland back to work!
The government will say that such a stimulus is impossible as it would require further borrowing. However, Ireland already has the funds for such a stimulus. The National Pensions Reserve Fund is currently valued at €24.1 billion, €17.3 billion of which is part of a discretionary portfolio controlled by the NPRF Commission, who are responsible for investing it, much of it abroad and in Irish banks. Infact, its fair to say that our government is currently using these funds as a money pot for its banking policy. Sinn Féin says use it to improve the lives of every citizen in this state.
We are calling for a once off transfer from the fund of €7 billion, to fund a stimulus package that would see Irelands unemployed construct and manage vital new national infrastructure. The NPRF Commission are responsible for investing the NPRF money, and this will be an investment.
An investment in the future of Ireland.
An investment for every man, woman and child in this state.
As our investment will be in infrastructure such as schools, creches and broadband, there can be little leakage from our national economy. Instead the investment will slash unemployment, see national tax intake rise, cut the deficit and see a new stronger nation arise. This will get Ireland back to work. What are we waiting for?
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