Call for investment over tax cuts in Budget

Social Justice Ireland (SJI) has urged the Government to prioritise “investment over tax cuts” in the forthcoming Budget.

Issuing a call ahead of next week’s Budget for 2017, Fr Sean Healy, SJI director said: “1.3 million people (29% of the population) are experiencing deprivation. This means they are going without basic necessities such as heating their home or replacing worn out furniture.  Why are these people not a priority for Government as it prepares Budget 2017?”

Pointing out that living standards in Ireland have been falling since 2007, with the deprivation rate more than doubling in the same time-frame, Fr Healy argued that “investment in infrastructure will have a much better impact on living standards than tax cuts. It will create jobs and support productivity and competitiveness.  In turn, this will improve living standards.”

Strategy

He went on to call for a spend of €1billion on infrastructure, to include €600 million on the social housing strategy.

In its call on Government, SJI insisted that the focus on “getting the economy right” in the belief that all else would follow “has not worked”, arguing that only through a focus on improving the living standards of all, will “a vibrant economy and society be delivered”.

“It is important to remember that behind statistics on poverty, deprivation and low incomes are hundreds of thousands of Irish citizens who are unable to achieve a standard of living that is considered to be the norm for our society,” SJI stated.

In addition to calling for infrastructural investment, SJI has proposed investment in other areas, which include an increase of €6.50 per week in Social Welfare Payments; the introduction of refundable tax credits (the benefits of which go to low income workers), and the introduction of a Cost of Disability Allowance. www.socialjustice.ie