Opposition say stealth taxes on the rise

Opposition reaction:The Opposition parties last night said the Government's spending estimates for next year were incomplete, representing the abandonment of the promise to recruit 2,000 additional gardaí and paving the way for the introduction of a new round of stealth taxes.

Fine Gael finance spokesman Richard Bruton said that every household would face an additional tax bill of around €2,200.

He said the 2006 Estimates had followed a well-worn path of stealth taxes and that once again the consumer and small business were the fall guys.

He said that accident and emergency and in-patient charges had almost doubled in three years and that the Exchequer contribution to the Local Government Fund would again create pressure for new local taxes.

"Charges and fees set by Government have increased by 86 per cent since election 2002. Public utilities have increased by 40 per cent in the same period. This is 10 times the increase in other prices", Mr Bruton said.

He said there was no sign of serious reform in the spending Estimates and that "all the public will see is the Government's waste juggernaut trundling on".

Labour Party spokeswoman on finance Joan Burton said that the Estimates were very much a partial work and the Minister for Finance was holding over information until budget day. She said there was no capital programme in the figures and the Estimates contained little of substance.

"Two hundred primary school teachers are to be distributed across 3,200 primary schools. There is no mention of meeting the specific commitment to maximum class sizes for under-nines. The commitment to 2,000 additional gardaí has been dropped", Ms Burton said.

Green Party finance spokesman Dan Boyle claimed the Estimates represented a three-card trick at the expense of the electorate and accused Mr Cowen of remaining reticent on key areas of capital expenditure.

He said that until the budgetary process was reformed, the publication of the Estimates would remain an empty exercise.

Sinn Féin's leader in the Dáil Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin said that there was a responsibility on the Government to introduce a comprehensive childcare package in the forthcoming budget.

"If overdue measures on childcare and other social services are going to be introduced now, they are due, at least in part, to the imminence of an electoral test for this Government", he said.