We know what opposition are against but what are they for? – Harris

Fine Gael TD for Wicklow/East Carlow and Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Simon Harris, has today (Sunday) called on the opposition to spell out their alternatives.

“The time has come for the disparate opposition to tell us exactly what their alternatives are to the policies of job creation and recovery pursued by the Government. Opposition politicians have been using every media opportunity to tell us what they are against. The question now is what are they for?

“We are slowly beginning to learn some of the answers as they let their reckless policies slip out. This weekend the Socialist Party told us they are in favour of nationalising multi-national companies who employ hundreds of thousands of people in this country. They revealed they want to put the banks into public ownership, heaping the associated risks onto the taxpayer. Sinn Fein continue to oppose for the sake of it, directly contradicting the policy decisions they are taking in the North.

“The opposition have had lots of opportunities to say what they are against. They cannot tell us what they are for, perhaps because they cannot agree among themselves.

“Fine Gael in Government will continue to focus on economic recovery and job creation as the best way to get people back to work and improve public services. The notion that we can improve public services without generating the revenue to pay for them is fantasy.

“We’re focused making work pay by reducing the income tax burden, which began on October’s budget and will continue next year.”