Sinn Féin will hike your taxes 23 times and cut vital housing supports – Neville

Fine Gael TD Joe Neville has strongly criticised Sinn Fein’s pre-Budget proposals, which will see 23 separate tax increases.

Deputy Neville said: “The Sinn Féin pre-Budget submission outlines a Budget package of over €13 billion – an extraordinary level of spending at a time of huge uncertainty.

“Notably, Sinn Féin want to make it harder to buy a home by abolishing schemes that are proving to work. They want to gut the Help to Buy Scheme, which would make it harder for people to get a deposit to buy a house. This scheme has helped 59,000 first time buyers buy their own home.

“They want to abolish the First Home Scheme and make homes more expensive by reducing state help via an equity share. Over 7,600 families have been approved so far for the First Home Scheme – where would those families be today if Sinn Féin got their way?

“Sinn Féin’s alternative whopper Budget is €4bn more than the government’s budget – a guaranteed  formula to overheat the economy and increase Ireland’s dependence on windfall tax revenues. Crucially, there is no commitment to safeguard our future.

“In a 50 page document, there are no proposals to create new jobs and protect the ones we have. This beggars belief at a time when the country is facing significant economic upheaval with the imposition of new tariffs. But it’s a rinse and repeat of every other year; spend, spend, spend and hope for the best,” Deputy Neville concluded.