Who wants to pay €3.3 billion extra in tax? – Doherty

Fine Gael TD for Meath East, Regina Doherty, has asked if anyone is prepared to pay €3.3 billion extra in tax to fund Sinn Féin’s health plans?

“It’s great that Sinn Féin are supporting Fine Gael’s model of Universal Health Care, we’re all in favour of that, but what they fail to tell us is who exactly is going to pay for their plans and in what way.

“Sinn Féin say the implementation of this plan will require increasing spending on health by €3.3 billion over the next five years. They say that the most effective way to fund this is through taxation and PRSI contributions. But who will be taxed more and by how much?

“Fine Gael has a long term plan to keep the recovery going and we are seeing economic progress, with over 135,000 more people at work. More people in work creates the resources to cut taxes for working people and invest in better services.

“Sinn Féin on the other hand would increase taxation for workers. They also plan to cancel tax relief on private health insurance. This relief of 20% on the cost of health premiums currently benefits 46% of the Irish population and can be worth several hundred euro to families across Ireland.

“Sinn Féin’s health plans will cost families hundreds of euro through taxation and lost tax reliefs, and could even result in those who already have free GP cards losing them. We cannot allow a high tax, anti-jobs party like Sinn Féin to risk the fragile recovery. They would wreck the economy and tax us to the hilt.”