How Sinn Féin will tackle poverty

BY MARY LOU McDONALD - According to a report by Dr Jane Wilde of the Institute of Public Health, published less than a year ago, almost 6,000 people die prematurely in Ireland every year as a result of poverty and inequality.

This is close to 20 times the number of people slain on our roads annually. And while there is plenty of advertising and campaigning done to highlight the fact that 'Speed Kills' and 'Drink Driving Kills', where are the campaigns pointing out the obvious? Poverty kills.

Recent figures from CORI, Vincent de Paul, the End Child Poverty Coalition and a seemingly endless variety of charities, NGOs and economists have confirmed a worrying trend over the last seven years. Since the Fianna Fáil/PD coalition was elected in 1997, poverty has steadily increased in the 26 Counties.

In 1994, the number of people living in relative poverty in this state was 15.6%. According to the CORI Justice Commission, one in five Irish people are now living below the poverty line, thanks to McCreevynomics.

The image of these people as 'Dole spongers' or hopeless cases is deeply flawed. Almost one in five households living in poverty are headed by an employed person. According to Vincent de Paul, the fastest growing section of people looking for help are in employment. Combined with the fact that almost 60% of households in poverty are living outside of the labour force because of illness, disability or retirement, it underlines the fact that job creation alone is not the solution to poverty in Ireland.

The solution Sinn Féin puts forward is one that requires a great deal of political courage, but is absolutely necessary if our position as one of the most unequal states in the developed world is to be challenged.

Simply put, the vast wealth produced every year in Irish society must be redistributed. It must be used for the benefit of the poor, the marginalised and the working class and not frittered away on tax cuts and vanity projects.

Sinn Féin is the only party that will state clearly and on the record that we favour fundamentally reshaping the tax system. The low paid, the men and women struggling to get by on a minimum wage, must be taken out of the tax net.

Regressive stealth taxes like the bin charges, which are disproportionately damaging to working-class communities, must be removed.

At the other end of the scale, the wealthy in Irish life must be prepared to make a larger contribution to the development of our people. The government has created a tax system where the top earners can pay little or no tax.

In 2002, a survey of the top 400 earners revealed that a fifth paid less than 15% tax. When Minister McCreevy was asked by my colleague Caoimhghín O Caoláin TD in Leinster House the cost to the State of the various tax breaks and loopholes he has presided over, it turned out he had no idea how much is lost to the State every year through legalised tax evasion in 20 tax relief schemes.

During the last year, the OECD published a review of Revenue Statistics which showed that in 2002, the 26 Counties collected a lower proportion of GDP in tax than any other country across the European Union and is even lower than the traditionally low-tax United States. It is no coincidence that we have one of the lowest tax takes and one of the lowest levels of expenditure on social protection.

Sinn Féin is aware that redistribution of wealth requires increasing taxes on those who can afford it. Since 1997, we have put forward alternatives for Minister McCreevy in each Budget.

We have called for a top rate of tax of 50% for individuals earning over €100,000. Corporation Tax, currently the lowest in the EU, can be increased to 16% without harming our international competitiveness. Capital Gains Tax should be returned to 40%. Why is it that the average worker has to pay tax at 42% on the high end of their income, while their wealthier bosses do not? We want to return employers' PRSI to 12%. Employers' payroll taxes are already the lowest in the EU and would still be competitive internationally at a 12% PRSI rate.

Sinn Féin is committed to building an Ireland of Equals, to tackling the inequality and deprivation existing in Ireland today. We are prepared to stand up to big business, the property speculators and developers for the rights of the ordinary people of this country and I go before the people on 11 June looking for support for that struggle.