Sinn Féin has pledged huge increases in spending on housing, health, childcare, education, social welfare and public transport in a manifesto that promises radical changes in policy across a range of government activities.
The party has also pledged to reduce some taxes, abolishing the USC on the first €30,000 of income and get rid of the local property tax completely.
To pay for all this, Sinn Féin says it will increase taxes on the better-off and on businesses – especially the banks – by €3.8 billion every year.
Launching the manifesto in Temple Bar in Dublin, party leader Mary Lou McDonald said Sinn Féin would "give workers and families a break, put money back into people's pockets and fix the housing crisis".
The manifesto targets ambitious sums to be raised from a variety of tax increases on businesses and the better-off, including:
*changing corporation tax rules for banks and increasing the bank levy (€225 million annually)
*taxing intangible assets held in Ireland by tech and pharma multinationals (€722 million annually)
*tax increases for those earning over €100,000 (€712 million annually)
*a wealth tax on those with net assets over €1 million (€89 million annually)
*tax changes on “gold-plated pensions” (€494 million)
*increase in employers’ PRSI for higher earners (€532 million)
The proposed changes would amount to the most radical reform of the tax system ever seen, transferring billions of euros from businesses and the better-off to redistribute them to lower earners and vastly increase spending on public services.
In all, the party would spend €22 billion more in current and capital spending over the next five years, give away €2.4 billion in tax reductions every year, and raise €3.8 billion in tax increases every year.
The party also says that it would run a surplus every year, reaching €3.4 billion by 2025. It insists that the costs of its proposed measures have been approved by the Department of Finance.
Ms McDonald also pledged to prioritise efforts to achieve Irish unity over the lifetime of the next government, but conceded that it was up to the British government to call a referendum on unity in Northern Ireland. She said, though, it would not happen unless the Government in Dublin was pushing for it.
She said Sinn Féin would not be in government unless that government undertook to prepare for a united Ireland.
On questions about the role of the party’s ard chomhairle, whose instructions all candidates promise to follow, Ms McDonald said Sinn Féin’s structures were not unique.
She said if Sinn Féin ministers were in government, they would be subject to collective cabinet responsibility.
“It is not the case that a Sinn Féin structure would trespass on the legitimate business of government,” she said.
Asked if she would continue to consult with the party about decisions of the government, she said there was nothing “sinister” about consulting with the party.
“But there is clearly a line of delineation in terms of discretion and the responsibilities of a serving member of any government, and we are very clear that a line is drawn of differentiation,” she said.
