Unfair Ireland: Cost of living up while income is down

Cllr Anthony Kelly has said that we are living in Unfair Ireland. The Sinn Féin candidate for County Wexford, who many believe is set to become the first SF TD in the county for 90 years, as said that a "system of corruption and neglect" has led to a a situation where the cost of living continues to rise while the income of the ordinary man and woman is on a steady decline.

Cllr kelly said;

"People in this country are struggling to survive. Most people have received pay cuts but are paying far more in tax. Those are the ones lucky enough to still have a job. Those on benefits are now dangerously close to falling below the UNs internationally accepted poverty line. Those on the minimum wage have been cruelly cut. Mortgage interest has gone up. Transport has gone up. VHI went up over 15% for most families. This cannot continue. An obvious gap is growing rapidly between the cost of living and the average income of an Irish family. It is an economic certainty that a consumer economy relies upon disposable income being spent to survive. How many Irish people have disposable income to spend now?"

"There is a better way. Sinn Féin has outlined an economic plan, that despite the protests of gombeen politicians, has been accepted by leading economists around the world, and has been costed by the Department of Finance. Sinn Féin is talking sense. We want to grow the economy because we know that extreme austerity and unfair taxation cannot bring us out of this slump. We want to create jobs. We want to stop the tide of emigration. We want to keep our people here, get them working and get them spending their disposable income here. That will bring us out of this recession. That will make Ireland strong again."

"Our whole economic policy rests on this principal. Stop Irish money being handed over to unguaranteed bondholders and toxic banks, and instead reinvest this money in our republic. Lets transfer money from the NPRF into a job creation stimulus. Mr Martin claims theres none left there, but thankfully hes mistaken once again. Although Fianna Fail managed to waste alot of the money taken from Irish taxpayers over the years, there is some still left. This money must now be reinvested back into the Irish people and national infrastructure. Lets hire our unemployed to create a new national infrastructure. Lets build new schools and medical clinics. Lets improve secondary roads. Lets get faster broadband across the nation. All of these things will help grow our economy. This is our better way."