Renua best small party for supporting business - Creighton

Renua Ireland leader Lucinda Creighton has outlined her party's "redline commitments" for entering Government, saying none of the other small parties are as supportive of business.

Ms Creighton said it was a “mathematical impossibility” that the current coalition will be returned to power based on current poll predictions.

In an address to the Dublin Chamber of Commerce, she said the next government’s policies towards business will be determined by whoever the main parties decide to enter coalition with.

“On tax and expenditure, none of the other potential power brokers that will make up the next government support the type of environment that Renua Ireland wants to create for business,” she said.

She said her party will reduce the rate of capital gains tax from 33 per cent to 20 per cent where it is being paid on the proceeds of a sale or partial sale of a business.

She said the party will overhaul the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and reduce capital gains tax on EIS shares to 10 per cent, to match the way the scheme works in the UK.

She added that the party will abolish the “discriminatory” rate of Universal Social Charge (USC) on the self employed. She added that the party would ensure that the self-employed have a “safety net” if their business fails.

She also said Renua will introduce a share-based remuneration scheme for employees to provide tax relief for employer and employee alike.

The party will launch its “unapologetically radical” taxation policy, which forms the main component of their pre-Budget proposals, on Monday, she said.

On childcare, Ms Creighton said she wanted to see a tax relief introduced in the short term for working parents to help them cover the cost and, in the longer term, to ringfence money from property tax to allow an annual spend of €1 billion on childcare facilities over 10 years.

She said these were Renua’s “redline commitments” for entering Government.