Labour issues pledge on taxes

 
Labour has vowed not to increase income taxes on people earning less than €100,000 a year if elected to government.


Party leader Eamon Gilmore said the commitment would appear in Labour’s policy document on taxation to be published tomorrow.

The party will also be proposing changes to the universal social charge to mitigate its effects on lower-income families.
Launching the party’s election campaign this morning, Mr Gilmore said Labour’s platform was based on three clear principles: jobs, reform and fairness.

The party’s plans for greater fairness in society would embrace a more just taxation system, an end to the two-tier health system and an approach to public sector reform based on outcomes.

He said Labour would cut another 18,000 public sector jobs but this would be achieved through voluntary redundancies and early retirement and as part of an overall reform package.

Other parties have suggested up to 30,000 jobs will have to go in the public sector, but Mr Gilmore said this could only be achieved through compulsory redundancies.

Asked whether he would make a commitment to voluntary redundancies a core demand for participation in any coalition, the Labour leader said the party was seeking a mandate from the people based on its approach.
Through the campaign, he said, Labour would focus on each principle in turn, by publishing its plans for change. The party’s manifesto will be published on February 11th.

Mr Gilmore said the opinion polls showed that Labour could win the election with only 6 per cent separating the party and Fine Gael in the latest poll.

Labour in government would stand up for Ireland renegotiating the EU-IMF deal and the budgetary “straitjacket” imposed by Fianna Fáil.