Republican News · Thursday 5 December 2002

Scrooge McCreevy robs the people

Coal, Gas, ESB all hit

BY ROBBIE MacGABHANN

Two weeks ago, Finance minister Charlie McCreevy announced massive cutbacks. They will reduce hospital services, stop school building programmes, deprive 200,000 people of a medical card and put 5,000 CE scheme workers back on the dole.

This week, in his Budget speech, McCreevy announced tax increases that will make coal, electricity, gas, heating oil, even a newspaper more expensive.

He will penalise those getting by on low wages and those enduring deprivation and poverty while at the same time taxes on business are to be cut, perhaps the only election promise not broken.

Worst of all the insults in this Budget was the claim by McCreevy that he was protecting the weakest in society while at the same time he merely tinkered with the €8.5 billion in tax reliefs open to the stud farm owners, the property developers and builders.

The super rich still have their loopholes and avoidance schemes, while the rest of the ordinary workers will over the next weeks have higher bills on top of the already announced increases in ESB, Gas and VHI.

Scrooge McCreevy has picked our pockets well.