What Opposition parties would do with €65bn surplus, from housing to climate

There are massive expected budget surpluses totalling perhaps €65 billion in the years up to 2026 – thanks in large part to booming corporation tax receipts. But that level of income may not last forever. The Government is looking at proposals like setting up a new National Reserve Fund like those put in place by Norway or Australia; increased infrastructure spending; and paying down some of the national debt. But what are the Opposition saying about what they’d do with the billions set to flow into the Exchequer?

Sinn Féin: social and affordable homes

Sinn Féin is saying there is major infrastructure that needs to be invested in but, as enterprise spokeswoman Louise O’Reilly put it: “we also need to deal with the crisis at hand now.” She criticised recent underspends by the Department of Housing of some €1 billion and said: “We need to see the ramping up of the building of social and affordable homes for working people to rent and buy.”

She said her party appreciates the need for a “rainy-day fund” and said that every Government “needs to have a contingency”. She said the current Government needs to acknowledge “that for many people it’s lashing at the moment and they need an immediate intervention”.

The 65 billion euro question: how to spend the massive budget surplus

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Social Democrats: social welfare, debt and climate investment

Dublin Central TD Gary Gannon says some of the windfall should be used to increase core social welfare payments putting the surpluses expected in the context of families currently experiencing poverty and worried about putting food on the table. Róisín Shortall said there is a case to be made for adding to the rainy day fund but also to pay down parts of the national debt that has particularly high interest rates.

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She said there’s a need for investment in infrastructure suggesting “a really big move in relation to climate change” and highlighting wind power and retrofitting. She also said a small proportion of the surplus should be used to buy a private hospital for public use in Dublin. She said the guiding principle for using the funds should be “to invest to save in the future and protect our people.”

Labour: sovereign wealth fund

Labour’s finance spokesman Ged Nash said the party supports the creation of a new sovereign wealth fund which saves the windfall taxes currently coming in to help deal with the additional expense of an ageing population including future pension and healthcare needs.

He said the fund should have a diverse portfolio of interests as has been done with successful funds set up by other countries. Mr Nash said the new fund: “should not be at the expense of additional investment in housing, in health, capital infrastructure and transport.” He added: “We can do those two things at the same time.”

[ Cliff Taylor: Having ‘struck oil’, Ireland faces big decisions about what to do with all this money ]

People Before Profit: emergency accommodation and refurbishments

People Before Profit criticised proposals to use the surpluses to create a new National Reserve Fund with Richard Boyd Barrett saying the Government is considering putting billions into “a piggy bank” at a time when children are experiencing homelessness. He called for the funds to be used to provide emergency accommodation and to “dramatically increase” investment in refurbishing vacant and derelict properties and building new public and affordable housing.

Asked if he would put aside any of the money for a rainy-day fund. Mr Boyd Barrett said the National Pension Reserve fund “disappeared literally overnight” amid the 2008 economic crisis. He said the priority should be investing in housing, health and education arguing this is a “prudential use of that money” that will save money in the long run.

[ Analysis: How to spend the €65bn budget surplus: Four options from safe to risky ]