Hackett praises budget impact, calls for ‘bold moves’ on Apple funding decisions
The best-flagged Budget in the history of the State is now on the record, the Finance Bill is in the works, and predictably, most responses to Tuesday’s speeches from Ministers Jack Chambers and Paschal Donohoe have been quite polarised, either supporting the government, or castigating it as a missed opportunity.
When asked for her response, Minister Pippa Hackett welcomed the support for working people and families, and the measures aimed at tackling the climate emergency, while at the same time suggesting that there will rarely be a better time to make bold, targeted infrastructural changes and developments that have the potential to transform the landscape of the country.
“When you look at the changes in USC, the increase in the standard rate tax band, the increase in the minimum wage, and the various cost of living supports, I think there’s a lot in here for ordinary people on average to low wages, and these are the people that have really been squeezed by the high rates of inflation in areas like food, energy and accommodation,” replied the Minister.
“There are supports for farmers, a commitment to recruit 1,000 new Gardaí and a lot of positive measures with regard to tackling our carbon output, including increased funding of retrofitting, and policies that will encourage more businesses to choose electric vehicles”.
Much of the conversation in the lead up to this budget however referred to the Apple tax windfall, the revenue from the State’s holding in AIB, and surging corporation tax receipts.
Ministers Chambers and Donohoe referred to spreading that capital investment across housing, energy, water and transport infrastructure, and Minister Hackett feels that there is huge potential when the real horse trading happens on the Apple money to make a bold move that could have far-reaching effects.
Referring to the Apple money, Minister Hackett said “This is big money, so let’s really think big. Imagine what could happen if we decided to get up to speed and compete with the best in Europe in rail travel or modern building methods? The Midlands would benefit massively, and a central location like Offaly would be ideal for large-scale state of the art manufacturing facilities and even an educational hub that could train people up to be part of a truly visionary housing project, something that could go down in history alongside rural electrification, free second level education, or even the creation of the IFSC.”
“It’s all to play for in the bigger picture and that’s what I’ll be pushing for over the coming months, now that we’ve delivered a Budget that delivers in the immediate term for families, for workers and for the environment.”