The People Before Profit Alliance condemns the collusion of Labour and Fine Gael in facilitating the passing of the Finance Bill. This bill gives legal effect to a budget that will devastate wages, public services and social welfare. No political party has a mandate to either pass or facilitate the passing of this budget.
People Before Profit / United Left Alliance candidate for Dun Laoghaire, Richard Boyd Barrett commented:
“For hundreds of thousands of people the reality of this Finance Bill is already beginning to bite with the introduction this month of the Universal Social Charge. Once again it is clear that this government’s operating principle, at all times, is to make ordinary working people pay for this crisis. It is too complicated to tax the obscene bonuses of the bankers who created this crisis but it’s a national priority to attack wages, social welfare and the minimum wage.
“We also need to be absolutely clear about this, Fine Gael and Labour have colluded with this government by allowing the Finance bill to be passed. You cannot oppose the bill out of one side of your month and facilitate its passing out of the other.”
People Before Profit / United Left Alliance candidate for Dublin South Central, Joan Collins commented: “This Finance Bill will have a devastating effect on working people in this country. The introduction of the Universal Social Charge will increase the numbers of working poor. The charge is paid by anyone earning more than €4,004 per year or, in other words, by a person earning less than €80 a week. The top rate of 7 per cent, will apply regardless of whether you earn, for example, €20,000 or €200,000.
“The behaviour of Fine Gael and the Labour Party in ‘facilitating’ this Finance Bill is cynical, hypocritical and entirely self-serving. They have gone out of their way to ensure the bill is passed yet have refused to take any responsibility for it.”