Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald has called for the carbon tax on green diesel and home heating oil to be scrapped.
Speaking to Sinn Féin Ard Fheis in Belfast this evening (Saturday 25 April), MP McDonald urged the Government to take urgent action to address the cost of living crisis.
“Affordable living must be the cornerstone” of the country’s future, she said.
Sinn Fein
The opposition leader said the government was “out of touch with reality” and had a “billions in surplus.”
“We need urgent action. An emergency budget, with a significant tax cut fuel “This project is affordable for everyone, including the complete elimination of the carbon tax on home heating oil and green diesel,” Deputy McDonald said.
Sinn Féin is calling for €400 in electricity loans, and a €500 charge to pay the deficit, along with additional support for those receiving social care, pensions, child benefit and fuel allowance.
The party also wants “immediate relief for taxpayers”, including a permanent cut to USC which MP McDonald said would put €500 back into every worker’s pocket.
Fuel protests
Referring to recent fuel protests across the country, the Sinn Féin leader said:
“People who have gathered from their homes all over Ireland with tractors, lorries and lorries are the tools of their livelihood.
She added: “Their protest was a backlash against fuel prices. But it was also something deeper – the values that we Irish hold dear: respect, dignity and justice for the people who keep the country going.”
Sinn Féin Finance Spokesperson, Piers Doherty. Source: Sinn Fein
In his speech to the Ard Fheis party yesterday evening (Friday 24 April), Sinn Féin’s finance spokesman, Piers Doherty, also called on the government to present a mini-emergency budget.
MP Doherty said the scale of the cost of living crisis meant people “couldn’t wait any longer” to take action.
“Across the country, families are sitting at kitchen tables trying to scrape together the money, but they simply aren’t doing it.
“Heating oil is unaffordable, electric bills have gone up, and the cost of groceries continues to rise week after week.
He said: “The workers are doing everything right, but they are still lagging behind. This is the reality, and it is getting worse.”
Representative Doherty said recent public protests highlighted the “depth of anger and frustration” among farmers, workers, families and small businesses.
“People don’t take to the streets lightly, they do it because no one hears them,” he said.
