COMMITMENTS ON jobs, local taxes and the economy dominate the Democratic Unionist Party manifesto for both local government and the Stormont Assembly, where the party is defending 36 seats.
Party leader Peter Robinson, launching the document in Belfast yesterday, said the DUP was aiming to support the creation of 20,000 jobs, boost exports by 50 per cent, cut corporation tax to 10 per cent, and rule out water charges and significantly higher university fees.
Deputy leader Nigel Dodds said the bread-and-butter focus in the manifesto arose from the fact that the constitutional issue has been dealt with. “No one seriously questions the stability of the institutions,” he said.
More than 90 per cent of the last manifesto’s commitments have been met, Mr Robinson claimed.
Presenting a positive picture of devolution, he dismissed those “who would seek to drag us back” and insisted that “Northern Ireland has been travelling in the right direction”.
On the issue of annual student fees of at least £6,000, Mr Robinson said “the DUP is categorically ruling them out” and would allow only incremental rises aligned with inflation.
He also ruled out water charges in addition to those included in domestic rates. “No ifs, buts or maybes. It’s not going to happen. We are a low-tax party. No apologies,” he said.
He committed his party to providing affordable childcare by greater use of the schools estate.
As part of a series of initiatives linked to the development of small businesses, Mr Robinson detailed his party’s rates relief scheme and vowed to develop renewable energy schemes.
Tourism revenue could be doubled within 10 years, and he singled out the forthcoming centenaries of the Titanic and the Ulster Covenant, as well as Derry’s bid win for UK city of culture in 2013.
On the highly contentious issue of education, Mr Robinson vowed to maintain academic selection as the means of transferring from primary to second-level schools.
He also repeated his aim of laying “the building blocks for creating a single system for education”.
On justice policy he promised tougher sentences and a review of the Policing Board, suggesting its supervisory role of the PSNI should be examined in the context of a Stormont justice committee.
Without referring directly to the row over the postponed North-South cancer treatment centre based at Altnagelvin hospital in Derry, Mr Robinson promised expanded access to radiotherapy services.
He returned to his wish to see fewer government departments at Stormont and a reduced Assembly.
There should be five or six departments, he said, a maximum of 80 Assembly members and an end to community designation and the establishment of a “voluntary coalition” at executive level.
He said the manifesto, which contained more than 500 commitments, also applied to local government candidates for the North’s 26 councils.
He said “double jobbing”, whereby Assembly members held other elected positions, would be ended by 2015.
Mr Robinson also called on electors to vote No in a referendum to abolish the first-past-the-vote system for Westminster elections and to replace it with the alternative vote (AV) system.
Tens of thousands of postcard-sized policy summaries have been produced and will be delivered in all 18 constituencies.
MAIN POINTS
* Backing for 20,000 new jobs
* Corporation tax at 10 per cent
* Increase exports by 50 per cent
* Boost tourism revenue
* No domestic water charges
* No to university fees hikes
* Single education system
* Cut Assembly from 108 to 80 members
* Reduce number of government departments