Ireland

Enda Kenny pledges to boost public staff by more than 10,000

Taoiseach Enda Kenny on a visit to family-owned firm, Shay Murtagh Precast in Mullingar. Picture by Niall Carson, Press Association
Taoiseach Enda Kenny on a visit to family-owned firm, Shay Murtagh Precast in Mullingar. Picture by Niall Carson, Press Association Taoiseach Enda Kenny on a visit to family-owned firm, Shay Murtagh Precast in Mullingar. Picture by Niall Carson, Press Association

ENDA Kenny has vowed to create five jobs for teachers, doctors, nurses, gardai and other frontline workers every day for the next five years.

Breaking down his Fine Gael party's promise to boost key public staff by more than 10,000 if returned to power, the outgoing Taoiseach said the investment would improve lives and protect the most vulnerable.

"Our approach will combine smart investment in public services with reform so we can provide better services and produce better outcomes," he said.

"This will mean more care in the community from nurses, doctors and therapists, and more gardai on the beat as we free up 300 gardai from desk work, as well as 600 new garda recruits a year."

He has pledged 3,224 more teachers, 2,800 extra nurses, an additional 1,800 gardai and another 1,000 health and social care professionals over the next term of government.

The proposal would also see 600 more consultants, doctors and dentists taken on by the Health Service Executive (HSE), 500 more social workers and 259 extra speech and language therapists and psychologists by 2021.

But he said his party would keep spending increases to 1% less than the economic growth rate "to ensure there is no boom and bust approach to investing in public services".

Also kicking off the second week of the general election campaign, Fianna Fail said it had "learned the lessons of the past" and would prioritise public services over tax cuts.

Michael McGrath, the party's finance spokesman, said its key tax pledge was to scrap the Universal Social Charge (USC) on pay up to €80,000.

"We will also guarantee equal treatment for the self-employed in the tax system and increase the Home Carers Tax Credit to €2,000," he added.

"To protect the public finances over the years ahead we will establish a Rainy Day Fund with any unexpected proceeds from corporation tax.

"Strict rules will apply as to the circumstances in which funds can be drawn down."

The party suggested a €2.7 billion spending package over five years on social housing, broadband and research in third level institutions.

Labour leader Joan Burton also vowed to axe the USC for low and middle-income earners.

"We will abolish USC on the first €72,000 of individual income," she said.

"At the same time, we will reduce PRSI for the lowest-paid workers and we'll freeze the gains through a claw-back mechanism for the very highest earners.

The outgoing Tanaiste claimed her proposals would see a worker on €25,000 benefiting by €44 a month, a worker on €50,000 by €26 a month, while those earning more than €120,000 would not be any better off.

"Over the five-year lifetime of our plan, the taxes of that same worker on €25,000 will be reduced by a third - or more than €1,100 a year," she said.

"But someone earning €120,000 or more will continue to pay the same taxes as they do now."

Sinn Fein said it would abolish the Local Property Tax, end water charges and take a further 277,000 workers out of the USC if elected to government.

Pearse Doherty, party finance spokesman, said Fine Gael's plan to abolish outright the USC is "unfair and reckless".

"The move benefits the better off a lot more than someone on an average wage and will mean that some high earners will be more than €10,000 better off while someone who earns €18,000 a year will be about €100 a year better off," he said.

"It also involves taking the equivalent of the entire health and education budgets out of the tax system over five years."