Vote No. 1 Aengus O'Rourke

Vote No. 1 Aengus O'Rourke
Longford Westmeath Bye Election

Thursday, 22 November 2012

Budget 2013 - A Fairer Way to Recovery


Fianna Fáil has published its submission for Budget 2013 “A Fairer Way to Recovery”.

The party’s submission proposes a budget adjustment package of €3.5 billion with an almost even split between taxation and expenditure measures.

According to the party’s Finance Spokesperson, the submission is based on three key priorities.

Deputy McGrath stated, “First, we are proposing that education, mental health and disability services be fully protected. Second, enterprise is at the heart of our budget approach and we will not add to the cost of employing people. Third, we are committing ourselves to a progressive approach to the budget unlike last year’s budget which hit poorer income households the hardest.

“We have also been able to exceed the government’s taxation targets without including a residential property tax. We are proposing a number of targeted stimulus measures, we are publishing an innovative package of measures for those stuck in a negative equity trap and we are proposing to extend mortgage interest relief for first time buyers for another year.

“The package we are publishing today is not a template for an easy budget, but we believe it is fair, progressive and it supports the very enterprises who have the ability to lead this country to recovery,” Deputy McGrath said.

Spokesperson on Public Expenditure and Reform Sean Fleming added, “The planned €550 million cut to the capital budget is too deep and we are proposing an extra €150 million in capital spending. We believe overall Social Protection expenditure can be reduced without cutting payment rates and we are urging the Government not to touch child benefit. We also propose a target of additional savings of €350 million across public sector pay.”

Spokesperson on Jobs and Enterprise Dara Calleary added, “The Government’s Jobs Initiative has failed to make any dent whatsoever in the jobs crisis, with the number of people in work dropping by 24,000 since the start of this year alone. We propose increasing the places in local employment schemes and investing further in employment-intensive capital projects. We also propose a series of measures providing greater supports to SMEs that will tackle the burden of commercial rates, provide stricter controls over the availability of credit and avoid transferring the cost of sick pay onto employers.”


A Fairer Way to Recovery - Fianna Fáil Proposals for Budget 2013

Tuesday, 20 November 2012

Fianna Fáil publishes legislation to cut bankers’ exorbitant pensions

Fianna Fáil publishes legislation to cut bankers’ exorbitant pensions



Fianna Fáil has published a Bankers Pensions Bill which proposes substantial cuts to the exorbitant pensions being paid to a number of the country’s retired banking executives.

The party’s Spokesperson on Finance, Deputy Michael McGrath stated, “The Oireachtas has a duty to respond to the justifiable public anger surrounding the extraordinary pensions being paid to some of the country’s most senior retired banking executives. The issue came to a head when AIB confirmed at a recent Oireachtas Finance Committee meeting that the Defined Benefit Pension Scheme which benefitted from a €1.1 billion bailout is the same scheme that pays enormous pensions to the bank’s retired top brass.

“The Fianna Fáil bill builds on the pension reductions already imposed on retired public servants and proposes tiered reductions in pension entitlements of over €100,000 by between 20% and 40% for banking executives and retired executives in the covered institutions (guaranteed banks). In view of the exceptional level of support provided by the State to the covered institutions, I believe the introduction of legislation to reduce certain pension entitlements is reasonable and justified.

“In recent parliamentary questions, I have asked the Minister to provide details of funds paid into the banks’ pension schemes over recent years. I have also asked the Minister to provide details of the level of pension payouts being made by the covered banks to retired executives. To date, the Minister has failed to provide these pieces of information and I am calling on him to do so without delay.

“Our pre-budget proposals, to be launched this week, will also include further reductions in the pension entitlements of retired senior public servants, including government ministers.

“On the specific issue of the remuneration levels currently being paid to senior bank executives, Minister Noonan has appointed Mercer consultants to assist his Department in reviewing pay levels across the banking system and to report before the end of year. We await the Minister’s response to this review and we expect him to deal with the fact that over 1,700 bank employees earn basic salaries of over €100,000.

“I am calling on the government to accept this straightforward piece of legislation to bring some semblance of justice to the pensions being paid to retired executives.”


Bill to reduce pensions of retired bank executives

Students forced out of college due to delays in student grants - Troy









No money left in Hardship Fund at AIT 

Students at Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT) have been forced to withdraw from college because of delays in access to student grants, according to Longford Westmeath Fianna Fáil TD Robert Troy.

Deputy Troy was speaking as the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) steps up its campaign
 of protest against cuts to student grants, increases in student fees and the on-going crisis in the SUSI system. 

“Last week I attended a meeting organised by the Students’ Union at AIT and I was horrified at some of the stories,” said Deputy Troy.

“Fr Shay Casey who is the Welfare Officer at Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT), told me there is no money left in the college’s hardship fund and that he knows of students whose only food on a weekly basis is a bag of pasta and tomato ketchup as they wait for their grants. This is incredible and a serious indictment of Minister Quinn and his Government.

“A student also contacted my constituency office to tell me he was withdrawing from college because he did not have access to college facilities and he could not pay his rent. Students are dropping out of college on a daily basis and the Government continues to bury its head in the sand.”

Students in AIT were joined by protestors in NUI Galway and GMIT last week as part of a nationwide campaign by the Union of Students in Ireland, which has already seen hundreds of students attend public meetings in Westmeath and across the country to voice their anger about the planned increase in student fees, the cuts to grants and the on-going crisis in the new SUSI system.

“Students in Westmeath and Longford have been treated appallingly by Labour and Fine Gael since they got into power. Many young people and their parents across the region voted for these parties based on their solemn pledge not to increase student fees. It quickly became clear though that Labour and Fine Gael made these promises with the sole purpose of getting into power, and had no problem abandoning them once they achieved it.

“The palpable anger among students at Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT) is completely justified. Not only do they feel betrayed by the Education Minister Ruairí Quinn and his colleagues, many of them are seriously worried about how they will now afford to stay in college. Far from reducing the cost of college as he promised he would do, Minister Quinn actually plans to increase the student registration fee by at least €1,000 within his term in office. He has also slashed grants, and he continues to preside over a deeply flawed grant processing system that has left thousands of students across the Midlands still waiting for their grants.

"In the Dáil last week, Fine Gael and Labour TDs in this region failed to stand up for the students and families who elected them. They refused to support a Fianna Fáil motion opposing further increases in student fees and cuts to frontline education services. I am calling on them to listen to the students who are protesting here today and to reconsider their damaging increases in the cost of college,” said Deputy Troy.