With nine months to go to the general election, the number of promises being made by the alternative government is beginning to mount. Our audit reveals that Fine Gael and Labour have committed themselves to more than 20 costly initiatives each, giving a real flavour of what another rainbow coalition would be like.
Many of the promises have not been made in formal policy documents, but by senior party figures in interviews with the media.
Last week Enda Kenny’s party promised a €140m package for carers, the latest in a series of expensive proposals. The party has already committed itself to an SSIA-type savings scheme for first-time house buyers, to abolishing stamp duty on homes costing up to €400,000, and to front-loading mortgage interest relief.
Fine Gael’s biggest promise is to spend €500m over four years on renewable energy. In health, it says it will offer medical screening to adults every five years, and provide free GP care for every child under five. Neither proposal has been costed.
It recently promised an inquiry into the infection of Irish haemophiliacs with HIV and hepatitis C by contaminated blood products, a comprehensive annual school report system, and a standalone Department of the Marine to oversee reforms in that sector.
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The party, which needs to gain up to 20 seats to be in a position to lead a coalition government, has said it will do all this and more without increasing personal, corporate and capital taxes or introducing new road tolls.
Fine Gael’s proposed reform of the criminal justice system will include the introduction of electronic tagging and a new bail act. It has promised to introduce a new food agency and a Green Ireland food label, and to give more paid maternity and paternity leave.
Fas, the state’s training agency, will be overhauled while Fine Gael has also pledged to solve hospitals’ accident and emergency overcrowding crisis while reversing the government’s plans to use public land for private hospitals. It will hold a referendum on the European constitution within a year of gaining power, speed up the timetable for increased overseas aid, and audit the decentralisation process.
In addition, Fine Gael and the Labour party will outline more joint-policy platforms in the coming months. Together they have put forward a plan to eliminate waste and mismanagement from the public finances through reforms and the introduction of new controls.
Labour has also made a raft of promises, including increasing garda numbers and the back-to-school allowance, putting a cap on the price of building land, and introducing protection for whistleblowers. It says it won’t increase taxes, but will spend €3m employing more than 30 testers to overhaul the driving-test system.
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It will shortly announce a plan to restore the first-time house buyer’s grant, and has already promised lap-top computers for all secondary school children, one year’s paid parental leave, and a year’s free pre-school education for children.
The Green party, a potential coalition partner for Fine Gael and Labour, has also outlined several costly policies including more money on public transport instead of roads, a greater focus on renewable energy, and medical cards for everyone under 18. It would introduce a carbon tax and a windfall levy on development land.
One independent political analyst said: “The opposition have to be careful with the number of promises they make. You can roll out nine good policy documents and then the tenth could get a bad reception and people will remember the negative ahead of the positive.”
PROMISES THE PARTIES HAVE MADE
FINE GAEL