Sinn Féin Finance Spokesperson Pearse Doherty TD has said Michael Noonan’s focus on further tax cuts in a speech to the Tax Institute shows the true agenda of the Fine Gael government and its supporters in Fianna Fáil.
He said a government that is still committed to cutting taxes in the face of our crises in public services simply cannot solve those problems.
Deputy Doherty said: “For weeks, we have been hearing about the investment this government claims it is making in the health services and in housing. Yet tonight the mask slipped and the real agenda of this Fine Gael led government was exposed.
“This is a right-wing government that will further erode our tax base at a time when our public services are in a permanent state of crisis.
“This is a government that has learned nothing from the past. Only this week the EU Commission again attacked the reckless tax cutting agenda of the government and its use of volatile corporation tax receipts to underpin spending.
“The ‘Abolish the USC’ slogan may have been retired but the mentality remains. When Enda Kenny finally stands down his Finance Minister should follow suit. He is intent on throwing away the recovery on tax cuts that are not sustainable and favour the wealthiest in our country.
“Our trolley crisis and our housing and homelessness crisis simply will not be solved by a government that is still promising to cut taxes. All the rhetoric around investment and promises to fix those problems have been shown up as empty words.
“The mask has slipped – there is no social side to this government. They will favour tax cuts for the better off over fixing our public services every time.”
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