Sinn Féin’s leader, Mary Lou McDonald, announced at the party’s ardfheis on Saturday that they would put an end to the means test for the carer’s allowance if they came into power. This major policy shift was not featured in the party’s alternative budget which was released on Thursday.
Ms McDonald emphasized that carers, who provide crucial work often motivated by love, save the state billions and it’s not just that their allowance is means tested. She sternly stated that in a Sinn Féin administration, the means test for carer’s allowance would be scrapped, eliciting a prolonged round of applause from the attendees.
Implementing this would cost several hundreds of millions of euros annually if the benefit is extended towards all the approximated 500,000 individuals providing care in Ireland.
If a person’s income, post-tax, falls below €450 per week, usually they are eligible for the allowance, typically €249 per week, although other conditions also apply.
The estimated fiscal implications of excluding the means test vary. Family Carers’ Ireland predicts an annual cost of €390 million, while the Parliamentary Budget Office estimates the upper cost scenario to be €450 million. The Department of Social Welfare forecasts a base cost of €600 million and speculates that the figure could soar to anywhere between €880 million and €2 billion annually.
Furthermore, Ms McDonald inferred to an auditorium of around 700 delegates that Sinn Féin’s plan, if they win the elections, would be to designate a Minister of State for Reunification in the Department of An Taoiseach, who’d focus on a united Ireland referendum groundwork.
To conclude, Ms McDonald expressed to the delegates that Sinn Féin would present voters with a distinct alternative government option, noting that workers and families can’t endure another five years under Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.
In a firm statement, Sinn Féin has declared itself to be a friendly party against racism, with a new policy stipulating that “it is neither just nor fair to place IPAS Centres within struggling working-class neighbourhoods”. The party communicated its housing scheme aimed at resolving the housing crisis by establishing 300,000 homes in a span of five years, 125,000 of which will be social and affordable homes.
Offering families a childcare option for €10 per day, Sinn Féin also plans to abolish the USC for individuals earning less than €45,000 a year. The party leader, Ms McDonald, was severely critical of Taoiseach Simon Harris, accusing him of failing to keep his 2017 promise to children suffering from scoliosis and spina bifida regarding prompt treatment.
She asserted that Sinn Féin is committed to establishing a second Accident and Emergency unit for the Midwest area. Addressing public project expenditure disputes, the party leader highlighted Mr Harris’s involvement in the planning of the national children’s hospital during his Health Minister tenure. She suggested that his approval of a contract has resulted in billions being invested into the world’s costliest hospital.
Ms McDonald argues that the general election will present voters with a choice between a party promoting “hope and commitment to fulfillment” and those who represent “entrenched interests, vulture funds and the exclusive club”. She urged, “If you are weary of ineffective government, frivolous application of public funds, and non-fulfilment, and if you envision an Ireland where workers, families, and communities are given priority, we want to convey that Sinn Féin is prepared when the election arrives”.