In recent times, one of the recurring discontent for Fianna Fáil has been their irritation over the former leader of Fine Gael, Leo Varadkar’s exploitation of budget “leaflets”.
Last year, Fianna Fáil had significantly expressed dissatisfaction towards what they perceived as Varadkar’s effort to push them into middle-class tax reductions in the budget, for which he was poised to claim recognition. The catalyst on that particular occurrence was an article written by three ministers of state in May, advocating for tax reductions for the financially strained middle class.
Fianna Fáil expressed disapproval towards this obvious attempt to tilt the budget in favour of Fine Gael’s political fortune. They argued that such actions were disruptive for a budget that requires the consensus of three parties, hence not collaborative or encouraging for healthy coalition partnerships.
However, times have changed. Amidst the emergence of a new Fine Gael leader and Taoiseach, Fianna Fáil has chosen to assume the lead on the issue of budget leaflets, to prevent Simon Harris from outdoing them.
As Fianna Fáil congregated for its national conference (ardfheis) in Dublin over the weekend, Deputy Prime Minister (Tánaiste) Micheál Martin unveiled various budget focal points for his party, half a year before the due date of the budget.
Without making any pinpointed promises on tax and welfare in his conference speech, Martin, while conversing with the media, was explicit about his expectations for the budget. Speaking to the Business Post, Martin mentioned that tax credits could be elevated, thereby echoing and exceeding the previous year’s level. He conveyed, “This will essentially mean that every worker, retiree, and self-employed individual would be exempt from income tax on the initial €20,000 of their earnings”.
Adding on, Martin said, “This is a fresh development, it’s something we as a party have put effort into, and this is something we intend to present at the table”.
In a conversation with the Sunday Times, Martin expressed his endorsement for the augmentation of welfare, a €10 boost in child benefit, additional reductions in childcare expenses, more energy credit and a €12 hike in the old-age pension.
Undeterred, Michael McGrath, the Finance Minister, used the weekend of the ardfheis to make clear his intention to allow workers to retain as much of their incomes as possible, a sentiment closely akin to that expressed by the Tánaiste.
The ardfheis presented an underlying suggestion: prepare for another substantial budget concession, complete with a scramble among government factions to lay claim to such a victory.
Fianna Fáil took a stand in defence of the government’s accomplishments in terms of housing, mirroring similar affirmations presented during the preceding ardfheis of Fine Gael and the recent state ceremonies at Leinster House. Both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael aren’t likely to win much support from the individuals yet to break into the housing sector, but they envisage that the roughly 100,000 new homeowners since 2020 may have a more favourable assessment of the government’s actions.
Significantly, the discourse by Fianna Fáil was more about home ownership, rather than merely housing.
Martin utilised his speech to unveil a scheme relating to smartphone usage in schools, with every school getting funds to enforce a smartphone ban during school hours. Asserting, to the tech firms, the government’s stark directive – take definitive action to ward off underage usage of your apps or face penalties imposed by the government.
Yet, despite an apparent work in progress towards a bunch of proposals, there’s no definite promise of a school phone ban becoming effective from the forthcoming academic year in September. The proposition of such a policy would be hugely popular with parents.
Martin’s announcement over the weekend, which he equated with the smoking ban, stipulates that should it come into effect, the accolade will be assigned to him and his party. However, if it fails, it will be another case of an unmet commitment. As elections continue to govern every facet of political life, the risks associated with success or failure of such initiatives are greater than ever before.