A wealth tax on millionaires, using the Apple tax case billions for housing and helping children with special needs are all priorities for People Before Profit-Solidarity as it gears up for a general election.
Gathering in Dublin for its think-in before the return of the Dáil, it wants to replace the Universal Social Charge (USC) with a wealth tax.
People Before Profit (PBP) TD Richard Boyd Barrett said the party’s discussions on a wealth tax and the Apple windfall was to show how the “enormous wealth and profits” accumulated by rich people and big companies could help resolve the housing crisis, address the cost-of-living pressures and provide resources needed for vital public services “like giving equality in education to our children with additional needs.”
Mr Boyd Barrett said the €14 billion Apple windfall ‘could double’ social and affordable housing output
He said a wealth tax could generate between €5 billion and €8 million, the kind of resources needed to get rid of the “hated” USC. It will feature in PBP’s pre-Budget submission and is likely to be a proposed 2 per cent tax on people with assets in excess of €1 million, not including the family home.
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Mr Boyd Barrett said the €14 billion Apple windfall “could double” social and affordable housing output over the next five years “and actually address the homeless and housing catastrophe we’re facing in this country.”
Solidarity TD Mick Barry raised the issue of the scoping inquiry into historic abuse at schools run by religious orders saying there is a need for a redress scheme for survivors and for the State to “seize” the land and money of the orders to pay for it.
On preparations for the general election Mr Boyd Barrett said PBP has selected around 30 candidates so far, hopes to contest all 43 constituencies, and believes it can retain its current Dáil strength and make gains.
PBP-Solidarity currently has five Dáil seats. Dublin South-Central TD Bríd Smith is not contesting the general election. Her replacement on the ticket, councillor Hazel De Nortúin said she is “well-versed now in people telling me how big her boots are” but pointed to her own local work in the Ballyfermot and Drimnagh ward and said retaining the seat is not a “long-shot”.
PBP TD Paul Murphy highlighted a Private Members’ Motion to be tabled in the Dáil next week in the wake of a shortage of school places for children with special needs and long waiting lists for assessments of needs and therapies.
He said it is a “scandal” that more than 100 families were waiting for places for their children at the start of the school term and that PBP is calling for special needs classes in every school in the country and more therapist training places.
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