Michael Noonan pledges no rise in work taxes over life of new FG government

There will be no increased taxes on work in the lifetime of the next government if Fine Gael is re-elected, Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has said.

Speaking as Fine Gael outlined how citizens would benefit from the party’s tax reduction plans, he said if the economic projections proved to be correct there would be “no need for increased taxes”.

However, he did say the party would not rule out increasing excise duty on cigarettes and alcohol or introducing a new tax on sugary drinks.

The Minister also attacked Fianna Fáil, claiming there was a €1.24 billion hole in the economic section of its election manifesto.

Mr Noonan said Fianna Fáil’s proposals made no provision for public pay increases after the Lansdowne Road agreement expired in 2018.

He said this was the Fianna Fáil version of the “black hole of Calcutta”, and questioned whether the independent experts who costed the party’s manifesto were “instructed to ignore it”.

“They are either being deceptive or incompetent. I think they are being deceptive. They are supposed to have costed this programme with some consultant in the UK.”

The Minister said this was “classic old Fianna Fáil deception”, and the party needed to learn the difference between fact and fiction.

Mr Noonan also rejected allegations by Sinn Féin that his party has miscalculated its figures on the impact of removing the universal social charge.

The Minister said there was no point saying Fine Gael got its figures wrong unless there was evidence to prove it.

Maths grinds

“Our figures are endorsed by the

Department of Finance

and we fully and completely stand over them,” he said. “Pearse [Doherty]’s problem is he took his maths grinds or else went to night school at the

Gerry Adams

maths school.

“That is his problem. He should have gone to somebody smarter with the arithmetic than Gerry is. He is wrong and he is making an allegation.”

Mr Noonan said the country could afford the Fine Gael proposals but cannot rely on the “chicken licken” Opposition.

“There are a lot of chicken licken economists writing in the newspapers and in the Opposition, especially among the Independents. The sky is always going to fall in.

“But if you believe the sky is going to fall in as minister for finance you would get totally paralysed and immobilised and you won’t do anything.”

Mr Noonan was joined by Minister of State Simon Harris and Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney.

Mr Noonan denied the Fine Gael strategy was falling apart, and said he would continue to play an active role in the campaign. The party was the only one not involved in auction politics and its plans amounted to €10 billion.

Delegation

The Minister was also asked if he would welcome US presidential candidate

Donald Trump

back to Ireland.

Mr Noonan was part of the delegation that met Mr Trump when he flew into Shannon late last year. Asked if he would do it again, the Minister replied: “If he was president I would nearly have to.”

Asked if Fine Gael was engaging in a concerted effort to attack Fianna Fáil, Mr Coveney replied that party leader Micheál Martin was “misleading” voters.

He said it was the job of Fine Gael to correct the record when Mr Martin tries to mislead the electorate.

“This is about Fine Gael defending the work we have been doing over the last five years and actually also fighting for what we believe in based on the truth and based on a growing economy that can benefit everybody.”

Mr Coveney said Fine Gael had a “duty to expose” promises made by rival political parties, and that Fianna Fáil was “very exposed” when it came to having a jobs plan or targets.