Sinn Féin TD Pearse Doherty took matters into his own hands last night to launch the party’s alternative budget.
The Donegal Deputy and Sinn Féin Finance Spokesperson criticised RTE News for not including the alternative budget in the headlines of the main 6.01 and 9pm news programmes.
As Finance Spokesperson of the third largest party in the Dáil, Doherty sought to ensure that Sinn Féin’s pre-budget proposals were made known publicly via social media.
“I can’t understand how a news organisation which has a legal mandate to be fair and balanced to inform the public and who have a public service broadcasting obligation are deciding that it is not newsworthy to carry the Sinn Féin alternative in the budget which will be announced next week,” Deputy Doherty said on Facebook Live.
The Sinn Féin Budget 2018 document, called On YOUR Side, contains details of a proposed €500,000 million investment in the health service. It also addresses the party’s ambitious programme to tackle the housing crisis with an increase in current spending of €44 million in the sector.
In a statement issued yesterday, Deputy Doherty said Sinn Féin has chosen the side of ordinary people with this budget.
He has outlined costed proposals to tackle the hospital trolley crisis with 500 extra beds, two million extra home help hours and 2,500 extra home care packages, to tackle the housing crisis with 10,000 social homes and 4,500 affordable homes and to tackle the childcare crisis by halving crèche fees for parents and increasing pay in the sector.
Teachta Doherty said; “Sinn Féin’s priority for Budget 2018 is to invest in public services and begin the process of solving the crises in health and housing.
“Citizens are literally dying on our streets, while families are forced to bring their children up in hotel rooms or in cramped, overcrowded accommodation.
“The equivalent of the population of roughly ten counties, some 600,000 people, are currently languishing on hospital waiting lists, many in chronic pain waiting on much needed operations, while other patients are left on hospital trolleys in our A&E Departments.
“All the while Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are engaged in a sham fight over tax cuts that will disproportionately benefit those on higher incomes over those on lower to average incomes.
“We are very clear that, in the current circumstances, there is no space for tax cuts for higher earners in this budget and all available resources must be used to begin to tackle the major crises in health and housing.
“Our document outlines proposals to help tackle the trolley crisis and care for older people with 500 more hospital beds, two million additional home help hours and 2,500 extra home help packages.
“We propose an additional 10,000 social homes and 4,500 genuinely affordable homes to help tackle housing crisis.
“And we want to halve the cost of crèche fees for parents while increasing pay across the sector.
“These are all realistic proposals that could be implemented with the political will to do so. The government seems intent on cutting taxes instead of investing in services.
“Sinn Féin has made different choices. We want to make a make an improvement in the quality of life for the vast majority of people. We are on the side of ordinary people.”
Click here to view the Sinn Féin Alternative Budget 2018: https://www.sinnfein.ie/files/2017/Budget2018.pdf
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