THE LABOUR Party has put forward a 100-step plan in its general election manifesto which it says will set the direction in Ireland for the next two decades.
Party leader Eamon Gilmore has also contended that renegotiation of the austerity deal with the IMF and the EU could save the State €1.3 billion from lower interest rates and a substantial share of €2 billion through burden-sharing with bondholders. He also said the plan, if implemented, could deliver employment, political reform and fairness in society.
“Ireland is a great country and I believe, in every fibre of my being, that our best days are still to come.
“To take our country forward, we need real change. Not the change of one conservative party for another. But the change of having, for the first time, a government led by Labour,” he said.
The manifesto was launched at the Aviva Stadium yesterday by Mr Gilmore, finance spokeswoman Joan Burton and the party’s spokesman on political reform Brendan Howlin.
The 89-page manifesto laid emphasis on the banking and financial crises. While many of the commitments are already in the public domain, the manifesto has described some of the key policy objectives in more detail.
The manifesto calls for a a renegotiation of the EU-IMF deal; burden-sharing by bank bondholders; a lowering of the interest rate on the EU loans; as well as a longer time period to bring the national deficit down to 3 per cent.
Speaking at the news conference, Mr Gilmore said that the EU-IMF deal would not work. He said the objective was for the economy to recover and this deal would not allow that.
“Labour does not accept that the EU-IMF deal provides a workable basis for restoring the Irish economy,” he said.
Pressed on the details of the changes he wanted to see in the EU-IMF deal, Mr Gilmore said they included more modest targets than set out in the memorandum of understanding and in the Government’s four-year plan.
Labour has already stated it wants the timeframe extended to 2016 and a €2 billion reduction in the savings required by 2014.
Yesterday, he said Labour’s position on renegotiation was for a decrease of 3 per cent in the interest rate charged by the two EU stability funds to Ireland, a reduction that could yield €1.3 billion over three years. The manifesto excludes any change in the IMF interest rate on the grounds that it is non-negotiable.
While not specifying the extent of burden-sharing Labour would seek from bondholders, Mr Gilmore contended that, overall, Ireland could “save in excess of €2 billion by way of renegotiation. There’s no choice but we have to do it,” he said.
Many of the undertakings are already in the public domain, including the policy of establishing a strategic investment bank. One of the major new commitments is an undertaking to hold a referendum on same-sex marriage.
It also outlined how it intends to create a €500 million jobs fund; the appointment of a trade tsar to bring expertise and flexibility in finding new markets; and the abolition of Fás to be replaced by a national employment service.
The party also promised a constitutional convention to draw up a new constitution, as well as the abolition of the Seanad. The document also formally commits the party to establishing a universal health insurance apparatus, for primary care by 2014 and for hospital care by the end of the decade.
Mr Gilmore said the manifesto showed the party was standing up for a “basic threshold of decency”.
“We do have tough decisions to make . . . but we have to make the right tough decisions.”
LABOUR'SPLAN: MAIN POINTS
* Renegotiate the EU-IMF deal for lower interest rate and burden-sharing with bondholders.
* A €500 million jobs fund to create employment.
* The appointment of a trade czar.
* A new national employment service to replace Fás.
* A constitutional convention to draw up a new constitution.
* Abolish the Seanad but make the Dáil stronger.
* Establish an independent fiscal advisory council to advise the government.
* Cover GP visits by primary care insurance by 2014.
* Universal hospital care insurance within six years.
* Two-year moratorium on house repossessions.
* A referendum on same-sex marriage