'Better Off Gain Most In Budget' - SF

The better off have, once again, gained most from the Budget, Sinn Féin's Finance Spokesperson, Pearse Doherty has said.

Deputy Doherty said that the "true nature of the unequal budget" has been revealed by research from the ESRI and Social Justice Ireland.

"The true unfair nature of this year's Budget is now coming to light and once again it can be seen to have unambiguously favoured the wealthiest in society. The ESRI analysis highlights how the lowest 20% of our population comes out worst of any group in the Budget. Yet, we are told everybody was a winner," Deputy Doherty said.

"The real winners were the highest earners who in real and relative terms will now be wealthier than the rest of society than they were the day before budget day. That is the true nature of Budget 2016 and it is no accident. It is by design and by policy that the more you have the more you get under Fine Gael and Labour. They have shown themselves incapable of bringing about a fair recovery.

"In percentage terms, the top earners are among the winners but the fact that this is magnified so much in real terms just shows how unequal the starting point was. The last Budget of the government, like every one before it, widened the gap between rich and poor.

"Despite the government spin, the actual middle earners in our society, those earning around €28,500, benefit little from the budget. Only two days after Budget day and the fog is clearing to reveal the true nature of budget 2016. The picture is of more of the same and top earners moving further away from the majority of hard working families and of the emergence of an unequal and unfair recovery."

(MH/LM)