Sinn Féin’s Daly claims COVID stimulus scheme is too little, too late for too few

SINN Féin Kerry TD Pa Daly has hit out at the Government’s economic stimulus plan.

The opposition backbencher claimed the plan was “inadequate, insufficient and disappointing”.

“This is not the stimulus that was promised or needed,” Deputy Daly said.

“The government including the ‘gradual reduction’ of the PUP payment within the document is astonishing, given cuts will impoverish many and reduce consumer demand,” he claimed.

“The overall intent of the government is clear: they want to bring these payments down in amount and remove as many as they can from eligibility.”

“Despite the repeated calls for something to be done for seasonal workers in Kerry, many of whom were excluded already from these payments, the package contains nothing to address their plight,” said Deputy Daly.

“Increasing the grants available to €550million is paltry compared to Sinn Féin’s proposed €1.7billion scheme, which mirrors what has been provided by Conor Murphy through the Northern executive and similar initiatives in the likes of Germany,” he said.

“Micheál Martin sought grants instead of more debt for Ireland at a European level, but now he is asking for businesses to accept the opposite at home.”

The Sinn Féin deputy also claimed that the ‘Stay and Spend’ tax rebate scheme will be little use as it comes into effect too late: “The incentive, only available from October of this year, will also be too little too late for Kerry SMEs, who have already lost most of this year’s seasonal business. Many pensioners, carers and those who are out of work could have done with a break but are excluded from the scheme,” he said. “It is hard to disagree with the Irish Hotels Federation’s description of the scheme as unwieldy and cumbersome. A flat voucher for all of €200, as proposed by Sinn Féin, would have ensured all citizens could benefit.”

Sinn Féin Kerry TD Pa Daly