Fianna Fáil pledges to raise State pension to €350 as divisions emerge within Coalition
Fianna Fáil will pledge to increase the old age pension to €350 per week as divisions with coalition partners are magnified.
On Monday, Micheál Martin’s party will launch its election manifesto, which sets out €12 per year increases in the pension until it reaches €350 per week.
Over the weekend, Fianna Fáil was critical of Fine Gael’s proposal for an 11% Vat rate rate in the hospitality sector.
Finance minister Jack Chambers said such a move would be regressive and would lead to an increase in gym membership fees due to the removal of the special rate for that sector.
Fine Gael clarified that this would be offset by a tax credit on gym memberships worth up to €50 a year.
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A cut of the 13.5% rate for the sector was one of the more contentious issues of last month’s budget. However, it was decided not to proceed with the return to the 9% rate. It is understood the 11% rate was discussed as a potential workaround, but was found to be too expensive.
Speaking in Clonmel on Sunday, Mr Martin said the tradeoff for higher Vat on energy was not worth it.
"So you won’t even be able to bring stuff down to 9% if you want in the future, should some emergency happen.”
Fianna Fáil sources said they believed the idea was “madness” coming so soon after the budget, but a senior Fine Gael source said it would “give confidence to small businesses”.
Meanwhile, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said she was not concerned about Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch running for election in her Dublin Central constituency. Speaking at an event on Moore Street, Ms McDonald said “anyone can run in an election”.
Asked about comments by former Tánaiste Simon Coveney that Fine Gael is “exhausting” the opposition, Ms McDonald said Mr Coveney was partly correct, that Fine Gael is “exhausting the people”.
Separately, the Social Democrats will on Monday launch a plan to guard against wasteful public spending. To address the “outgoing government’s wanton waste of public money”, the party would establish a government accountability office (GAO) within the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General.
The GAO would perform the role of a public spending watchdog in real-time; engage with senior civil servants and accounting officers in government departments on an ongoing basis to ensure the public spending code is adhered to; and report to the Public Accounts Committee.
In addition, the Social Democrats would establish a new independent anti-corruption agency to replace “toothless” ethics watchdog, the Standards in Public Office Commission.