Supplementary Budget 07/04/09
Statement by John Carr, INTO General Secretary, on Supplementary Budget
7th April 2009No fairness in budget
The INTO has strongly criticized today’s budget as totally unfair. The union’s General Secretary John Carr said once again, workers are seeing their incomes savaged while those with other forms of wealth and assets are spared. “Fianna Fail’s favourites like tax exiles and the racehorse industry remain protected.”
“Middle income earners like teachers will take a massive hit in the budget,” said Carr. “For example, a principal teacher on €75,000 sees the income and health levy doubled and PRSI increased.”
Mr Carr said since January a public service worker like a principal teacher has seen a twelve percent decrease in salary. “The income levy has increased by 2%, the health levy has increased by 2%, PRSI has increased by about 1% while the public service pension levy has taken 7% out of teachers’ salaries.
“When times were good and national wealth increasing the salaries of ordinary workers lagged behind and increases granted grudgingly,” said Carr. “Now the pay packets of workers are falling faster than national wealth while the assets of the wealthy are protected.”
He said these workers would find it hard to understand how the Minister could afford to gamble up to €90 billion of taxpayers’ money to bail out the banks.
Ends.