A TAOISEACH WHO’S GOT 1.5 BILLION REASONS TO SMILE
Enda pins hopes on Budget giveaway for families who’ll swing 2016 election
HARD-WORKING families across Ireland were yesterday welcoming a pre-election Budget which will boost their household finances by as much as a staggering €7,000 a year.
A raft of measures aimed at families with young children were accompanied by giveaways targeted at other Fine Gael heartlands including pensioners, farmers and the self-employed.
Buoyant Fine Gael TDs left the Dáil last night convinced that the family-centred package will have helped swing Middle Ireland firmly behind the Coalition come the next general election.
One of the few surprises in the Budget, which had been widely leaked for weeks, was the extension of free GP care from under-6s to all children under 12.
That came on top of a free pre-school year worth €3,125, an extra €60 annually per child in Child Benefit and the promise of two weeks’ paid paternity leave for all fathers in a suite of family-centred measures announced by Finance Minister Michael Noonan.
Added to cuts in USC which benefit every worker in the State, the Budget measures are worth thousands of euro to parents and are likely to ensure a significant swing to the Coalition among key switch voters at the next election.
There are also increased childcare places in subsidised centres, money for homework clubs, and a significant boost for homes with a stay-at-home spouse – with single - i ncome couples enjoying a €190 hike in the home carer tax credit.
Meanwhile, property tax has been frozen until 2019. Some families have come out winners more than others.
For example, a hypothetical married garda and nurse, on a combined salary of €105,000, with one child in creche, would be €6,866 better off after childcare, GP savings, Child Benefit, tax changes and a fortnight’s paternity l eave are t aken i nto account.
Mr Noonan declared at the conclusion of his speech on a €1.5billion package of public spending i ncreases and tax cuts: ‘The Budget will provide stability to families across the country.’
He said it would reward work, enterprise and innovation, while providing the resources f or investment in essential public services, in part through the imposition of 50 cent extra on a pack of cigarettes.
But he emphasised: ‘It will provide working families with more money i n their pockets and higher-quality public services.’
Minister for Public Expendi- ture Brendan Howlin echoed these sentiments, saying: ‘We are conscious of the need to continue to address the challenges that face Irish families.
‘ Our aim is to ensure that recovery is felt in every home and in every community across the country.’
The Government repeatedly sought to emphasise that it was targeting its tax measures at the so-called ‘squeezed middle’.
Having devoted the bulk of its relief efforts to reducing the Uni-
versal Social Charge, it believes Ireland’s middle classes will reward the incumbent parties by returning them to power.
From January next the 1.5 per cent cut to the main USC rate – dropping it from a 7 per cent levy to 5.5 per cent – will be felt in the pockets of wage earners throughout the country. The lower USC rates are being trimmed by half a point apiece. The concentrated benefit will be to those earning up to €70,000 a year.
Last night a line of Government TDs was sent out to sell the Budget in the media, emphasising the family-oriented features.
In Education, the reduction of the pupil-teacher ratio from 28:1 to 27:1 – as exclusively revealed by the Mail – and the delivery of 2,260 more teachers and extra SNAs across the country is likely to further impress parents.
Meanwhile, in terms of delivering justice and improving protection for those in rural communities, there were some relief measures. After a spate of rural crime and horrific individual incidents, a further 600 gardaí are to be recruited.
The extended family, particularly the elderly, are also looked after. There will be a hike of €3 a week in the old-age pension, and an extra €2.50 per week being added to the fuel allowance. The restoration of 75 per cent of the Christmas bonus will mean grandparents having an extra few euros in their pocket for Christmas, as well as throughout the year.
Inheritance tax reforms will also benefit families, with the threshold of exemption from tax on disposal of a bequeathed home rising from €225,000 to €280,000. The capital gains tax thereafter is set at 33 per cent.
Government TDs were yesterday urged to market the measures in their local media, and to stress their positive combined impact on families in particular.
The increases in incomes due to USC reductions and the savings from free GP care and effectively a second free preschool year ‘will more than cover the extra costs incurred by water charges and the property tax’, said one TD.
And elsewhere, the Respite Care Grant has also been fully restored, from €1,375 back up to €1,700, a move which had been heavily criticised by the Opposition. Last night the sole tax rise in the Budget, 50c excise on a pack of cigarettes, was overwhelmingly approved by the Dáil by 112 votes to just 22.
‘This will more than cover water charges’