There is a Better Way

THE Fianna Fáil/Green Party Government is about to bring in what is widely expected to be one of the harshest Budgets in the history of the state.
In backing the Government’s 2014 deadline for cutting the deficit to 3% of GDP, Fine Gael and the Labour Party have effectively given their support to the austerity measures planned by the Government.
Health, social welfare and education are all expected to be badly affected. Those on low and middle incomes will bear the brunt of these cuts.
In the North, as a consequence of the British Government pursuing the same austerity agenda, the Northern Executive is faced with a situation where severe cuts will be imposed on spending.
Sinn Féin has repeatedly pointed out the need for fiscal and tax-raising powers to be transferred to the North so that its budgetary policy is not dictated by Britain.
Faced with cuts from London, Sinn Féin has put forward an economic document which shows where savings can be made and where revenue can be found. The party has pointed to the role that all-Ireland co-operation can play in rebuilding the economy on both sides of the border.
Sinn Féin is leading the way in setting out a better alternative, North and South.
Recent consensus talks between Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Labour and the Greens collapsed as more and more organisations (including the Economic, Social and Research Institute and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions) came out in agreement with Sinn Féin in opposing proposals to cut the deficit by 3% by 2014 and supporting a later deadline of 2016 or 2017.
But while official consensus talks may have collapsed, all of these parties – Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Labour and the Greens – remain committed to the 2014 deadline.
Sinn Féin will launch its Budget alternative soon after An Phoblacht goes to print. It will set out an alternative that is based on stimulating the economy, cutting wasteful public spending and closing tax breaks, and increasing taxes on those who have the ability to pay – including many of those who created the crisis and who still continue to enjoy affluent lifestyles while ordinary people suffer pay cuts and job losses.
Austerity has never pulled an economy out of economic crisis.
Cuts will not create jobs. They will push us further into recession.
It is time to make a stand. It is time to demand a better way
Saturday 4th December 1:30pm gives us another chance to ‘Make a Stand’ when we rally at Dublin’s Parnell Square.
There is a Better Way.