Fine Gael has has said it would, in government, get the Exchequer deficit in order by 2014, but would continue a “process of correction” to bring in a balanced budget two years later.
The party today outlined a five-point policy programme ahead of the general election on February 25th.
The plan, entitled Let's Get Ireland Working promises to invest €7 billion in infrastructure to generate 20,000 jobs a year, to reform the public sector and the health service, and to cut the number of politicians in the Oireachtas by 35 per cent.
Finance spokesman Michael Noonan said the current budget would be in balance by 2016, with discretion for the government to balance for investment in infrastructure. He said there would continue to be borrowing for capital spending to stimulate growth and to create jobs at the required levels.
Outlining what he called the “raw arithmetic”, Mr Noonan said Fine Gael was committed to a correction of €14 billion over four years.
Of the first €6 billion in this year’s budget, the party might seek to renegotiate “bits” of it as the year goes by, but would not change the overall figure.
Of the remaining nine billion, slightly more than €6 billion would be in expenditure cuts and “slightly less than €3 billion” would be on variations in tax.
He said his colleague Richard Bruton has already identified €5 billion of the €6 billion already, with a “radical reform programme” for the civil service. The party would announce its full banking policy and fiscal policy on Friday.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said reform was "essential".
"Put simply, government must become smaller and government must perform better. Government has to deliver better value in order to reduce the deficit, avoid job-destroying tax increases and protect frontline services," he said.
Fine Gael would abolish145 state bodies and companies, reduce the total public service headcount by 30,000 by 2014 while protecting frontline services, introduce a salary cap of €200,000 for everyone, gradually dismantle the HSE and the State training agency Fás and create a "single, more powerful" Competition and Utilities Commission to "champion the consumer".
Mr Kenny rejected claims that 30,000 public servants would be made compulsorily redundant and said the savings could be achieved through voluntary measures.
The party's plan would replace the HSE with the Dutch universal health insurance (UHI) system.
“Once UHI is fully introduced the unfair and inefficient two-tier health system will be eliminated,” Mr Kenny said. "Under the Fine Gael system hospitals will be paid for the number of patients they treat rather than giving block grants.”
He said his party, if elected to Government, would introduce more affordable GP care by opening up contracts to all qualified doctors.
The Fine Gael leader also vowed to reduce hospital waiting lists by setting up a special delivery unit reporting directly to the Minister for Health.
Additional reporting: PA
