THE GOVERNMENT should use tax increases rather than service cuts to give the economy the “short sharp shock” it needs to get back on track, a director of the Conference of Religious in Ireland (Cori) said yesterday.
Fr Seán Healy said the brunt of money-saving adjustments to the public finances required by the Government should not be borne by the unemployed or vulnerable in society.
He called for an integrated approach over the next five years to dealing with the financial problems facing the country.
Fr Healy said these issues should be overcome by increasing the tax take and that initiatives such as a carbon tax or residential property tax should be developed further. He also said that tax breaks should be claimed only at a standard rate. Fr Healy added: “there is no doubt” that better value can be got for State money and that the Government should examine what capital projects can be put on hold to reduce spending.
He said it was important to protect jobs and get people out of unemployment as quickly as possible if Ireland is to regain its competitive edge. Living on €200 unemployment benefit a week was providing a shock for many newly unemployed people, he said.
“In terms of becoming more competitive we can take a short sharp shock now and that will result in unemployment being back to low levels in a four to five-year period,” he told RTÉ Radio.
“Or we can decide we are going to take our time to do it. . . then I think we’re looking at eight to 10 years of very high unemployment.”
Fr Healy said he still needed to be convinced that pay cuts are what is required to provide this “short sharp shock”, but that everything is on the table in the discussions between Government, employers and unions, in which Cori is involved as a community and voluntary pillar.
