Left TDs push for minimum wage of €15 in coalition talks with SF
LEFT-WING TDs want a minimum wage of €15, the State pension age restored to 65, and the abolition of third-level fees and property tax in return for supporting a Sinn Féin-led government.
Proposals from seven ‘left’ TDs were submitted to Sinn Féin in March as part of efforts to form a left-wing minority government without Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael.
Other measures being sought include free public transport, dropping the Apple tax case, and a referendum to enshrine public ownership of water utilities in the Constitution. The proposals are outlined in a document, dated February 27, endorsed by People Before Profit TDs Richard Boyd Barrett, Bríd Smith and Mick Barry, Rise’s Paul Murphy and Independent deputies Joan Collins, Catherine Connolly and Thomas Pringle.
It was used for negotiations on forming a left-led minority government with Sinn Féin in March. The talks were halted following the Covid-19 lockdown and have not yet resumed as Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Greens attempt to form a government.
The document, seen by the Irish Independent, calls for a rise in the minimum wage to a “living wage” of €15 per hour. This is more than Sinn Féin’s commitment to a living wage of €12.30 and the current €10.10 minimum wage.
Other measures sought include restoring the age at which the State pension is paid to 65 – a core Sinn Féin policy – and increasing parental benefits to two-thirds of a worker’s take-home pay.
The document outlines a series of other costly spending measures which would be paid for by closing “tax loopholes benefiting vulture funds, banks and big corporations”, increasing taxes on “the wealthy” and dropping the State’s appeal of an EU adjudication that Apple owes over €13bn in unpaid taxes to Revenue.
It also calls for an immediate rent freeze, rent controls, an evictions ban, the abolition of the property tax – which Sinn Féin supports – and a major local authority-led public housing programme.
On health, it calls for legislation for a national health service and a lifting of the recruitment embargo to address “the trolley and waiting-list crisis”.
The document calls for publicly funded childcare provision equivalent to the school system, the abolition of thirdlevel fees, and full restoration of austerity-era pay cuts.
On climate, it calls for a target of net zero carbon emissions by 2030, carbon tax to be levied on “big corporate polluters” and not “ordinary people”, new climate emergency legislation, “free, green and frequent” public transport and a major retrofitting programme.
On agriculture, it proposes incentivising farmers to transition to sustainable methods “with a guaranteed decent income”.
Other measures include ending direct provision, lifting restrictions on access to abortion services, a programme to separate Church and State; and ending the use of Shannon Airport by the US military.
The left TDs involved said they had expected Sinn Féin to return with a draft document following talks in March, but said they had not heard back.
Sinn Féin’s lead negotiator Pearse Doherty said he would not comment on “confidential negotiations”, but insisted his party still wanted to form a government with like-minded parties and TDs.