Siptu president Jack O’Connor has called on the Government to deploy in Budget 2014 the full €1 billion savings secured in the recent promissory note deal and invest in a stimulus plan aimed at job creation and economic growth.
Addressing a meeting of the trade union’s Wexford district council last night, Mr O’Connor said: “The Government must grasp the opportunity presented by its recent promissory note deal to abandon the misery of one-sided austerity and launch a stimulus plan for jobs and growth.
“The public should be assured that the €500 million cut in social welfare spend pencilled in for 2014 will not proceed and that there will also be no reduction in health service spending,” he added.
“Apart from providing some sense of financial security for lower and middle-income families, this would also shore up consumer spending.”
Mr O’Connor said the €1 billion-plus savings generated by the promissory note deal would still leave enough to launch a distress fund to assist people in danger of losing their family home because they were unable to service their mortgages.