SF ardfheis to hear call to increase State borrowing for infrastructure

STATE BORROWING should be increased in the Republic to fund major infrastructure projects, while VAT should be lowered to boost consumer spending, Sinn Féin will demand this weekend.

More than 1,000 delegates will attend the party’s two-day ardfheis beginning in the RDS in Dublin this evening.

The theme of the ardfheis is “A Vision for Ireland’s Future”.

“There is no single silver bullet for our difficulties. It would be extremely foolhardy for anybody, including Sinn Féin, to say that there is one,” said Mary Lou McDonald, the party’s Dublin MEP.

A number of leadership changes are expected to be formally to be ratified by the ardfheis, including Ms McDonald’s uncontested accession to the post of vice-president.

Declan Kearney is due to become party chairman; Dawn Doyle is to be confirmed as the party’s general secretary; while Maurice Quinlivan and Rita O’Hare are to be chosen as joint party treasurers.

Acknowledging that the party’s success so far has been concentrated in the North, Dublin and the Border counties, Sinn Féin said it “has been trying to come to terms with the need to develop nationally”.

Sinn Féin will be fighting to hold Ms McDonald’s seat in Dublin and Bairbre de Brún’s in the North, while it will be running more candidates than ever in the local elections.

Following the ardfheis, Sinn Féin is to launch a number of economic policy documents on ways to stimulate the economy, and “end the culture of mismanagement and wastages of public monies”.

Putting forward its own ideas to raise €2 billion in extra revenue and savings for the exchequer, Sinn Féin said the PRSI ceiling should be removed, thus raising €223 million.

Tax reliefs should only be available at the standard rate, rather than the top rate, which would raise up to €1 billion, the party said, while legislation should be introduced to end the freedom for some to become tax exiles.

A 5 per cent increase in the Dirt tax rate would raise €130 million, while the end of all subsidies for private schools would save €88 million.

The abolition of all subsidies for private patients in public hospitals would reap €100 million.

“Ireland is in a recession. Thousands of jobs are being lost. In January alone there were 36,500 recorded job losses. Despite this reality, the Government’s sole focus has to date been solely on cuts and borrowing,” said Sinn Féin.

“Of course the public finance crisis must be tackled, but the number one priority for Government needs to be the retention and creation of jobs if we are to rebuild Ireland’s economy,” the party said yesterday.

Irish-owned firms must be encouraged and helped to export, and the lessons learned by previously successful companies such as Glen Dimplex, which has built an internationally famous electrical heating business out of Newry, should be emulated, the party said.