The Budget – what has happened to party policies b y 19th October 2010.

Fianna Fail/Greens

Target is €4 billion + On target

Cut capital spending by delaying or abandoning some projects €1 – 1.5 billion
Big hits on health and social welfare €1.5 billion
Cutting child benefit by 10% €250 million
Tax hikes €1 billion
Increases of 1% on standard and higher tax rates would yield €500 million
Widening PRSI bands €500 million
Tax reliefs on pensions

Fine Gael

Total €5 billion on target

● All €3 billion taken from day-day spending

●Cut budgets of big bureaucracies FAS HSE, CIE €514

●Improve efficiencies in govt departments and agencies. Cut administrative staff €594

●Rationalise and merge 43 quangos €175

●Redundancy deal of six weeks pay per year of service could reduce public service numbers to 2005 numbers €450

●Eliminate tax shelters €552 million

●Cap tax relief on pension contributions €330 million

●Merge PRSI and income levies into a low rate on all income €200 million

Labour

Total 2 billion – shortfall of €2 billion minimum

●Reduce budget deficit to 3% by 2014

●One third of cuts from capital spending (Metro North) €1 billion

●Water charges on a metered basis – will take time

●Higher rate of tax on salaries over €100,000 introduce a 48% tax rate -€355 million

●Abolish tax breaks €400 million

●Not yet decided on full range of cutbacks

Conclusions- Taken with Gilmore’s Evening Herald interview, Labour are a long way off the pace of their declared objective of 3% of GDP by 2014.