Rebuild Our Social Infrastructure

The last economic crisis should have been a watershed moment. In 2008 Irish capitalism collapsed, creating crises in finance, construction and the wider economy. Working people had no hand nor part in creating this crisis, but they were made to shoulder the costs. From 2008 until 2015 there were nine austerity budgets. This took more than thirty billion out of welfare and services and a cumulative total of more than twice this. People Before Profit fought hard against this injustice and we would use current resources to repair the damage. This means reversing the austerity taxes, repairing services and moving our public services onto a more secure footing. Our key policies in this area include

Tax Justice, Pay Equality and Social Welfare

  • Reverse Austerity Measures. In budget 2018 Solidarity-People Before Profit showed how an extra €2.5 billion could be added to the social protection budget. This would include an extra €10 on all social welfare payments. We would also end the discrimination against the youth by standardising welfare payments. For the elderly People Before Profit would increase the state pension to €250 per week and we would increase maternity benefits to 12 months.
  • Pay Equality. Workers in the public sector should not face pay apartheid. Workers with the same level of experience doing the same work should be paid the same wage. To make this a reality, People Before Profit would repeal the FEMPI legislation and end pay apartheid. This would cost roughly €1.6 billion, but the benefits would be considerable. Alongside fairness, this would help to retain and recruit the workers we need to staff the health, education and vital public services we desperately need.
  • Scrap the Universal Social Charge. The USC is a hated austerity tax. People Before Profit would scrap it and replace it with a higher earners social charge for those earning more than €90,000.
  • Scrap the Property Tax. The Local Property Tax is a tax on family homes. We want a real assets tax levied on the richest 5%. Added to this we would introduce a landlord tax levied on people with two or more houses. The cumulative cost of this is around €230 million. 

Public Services.

  • Towards a National Health Service. Decades of neglect by Fianna Fail and Fine Gael have resulted in a crisis in our healthcare system. Instead of persevering with a failing model we would move towards a National Healthcare System free at the point of use and accessed on the basis of patient need. We therefore advocate increasing the health spend by nearly €4 billion next year including nearly €900m in extra capital spending. We would also move to provide women with better reproductive care, prioritise mental health, dementia and autism.
  • Make Education Free For All. People Before Profit believes in education for child development and lifelong learning. Our model relies on replacing the various patron bodies currently in operation with a secular, state run educational system. Education needs to be free of charge for all and educational supports need to be allowed on a basis of need rather than budgetary constraints. Our schools are over-crowded and expensive to access. In 2018 we would make sure education is free for everyone who wants to access it by scrapping fees and spending an extra €1.3 billion.
  • Childcare as a Public Service. Irish parents pay over the odds for child care services. Our solution to this problem would be to adopt the Scandinavian model, by emphasising a publicly funded childcare system with well qualified staff and up-to-date facilities. To move in this direction, we would spend €1.56 billion in 2018 on hiring childcare workers. In addition, we would spend €1 billion on improving the capacity and looking for synergies with existing providers and primary schools.
  • Invest in Public Transport and Halve Fares. Providing public transport alternatives is crucial for local communities and the environment. Ireland must target zero net emissions by 2035 in order to contribute to the fight against climate change. A significant increase of investment in public transport is necessary to achieve this. To substantially increase usage, we would halve all fares on public transport. In addition, we would return state investment in the three state operating companies to 2010 levels as part of a coordinated plan to revolutionise our public transport.
  • Support Rural Communities. Rural communities have been devastated by years of austerity. Our goal is to revive rural Ireland by spending €250 million on a combination of rural broadband, rural regeneration programmes and Rural Economy, Environment and Structural Changes Programme.
  • Support the Arts. Ireland’s artistic and cultural heritage is one of our greatest assets. Despite this, funding for the arts and culture is pitifully low. Indeed, Ireland has one of the lowest levels of arts funding in Europe. People Before Profit believe we need to radically increase our investment in these areas. We believe that artistic practice and exposure to the arts and culture should be seen as a right for all citizens. Total spending on arts, culture and heritage currently stands at €158.2 million per year. People Before Profit propose to increase the arts budget by €100 million in 2018.