Tynan slams Budget which benefits the better off once again

Cllr. Ted Tynan speaking at the
Workers Party Ard Fheis last weekend.

Workers’ Party Councillor Ted Tynan has described this week’s budget as a con trick which claims to have given a little to everyone when in fact it has overwhelmingly benefitted the better off.

Cllr. Tynan said that the government had thrown crumbs at workers and the least well off with one eye on the election but when examined more closely it leaves the working class still in a worse position than they were a decade ago.

“There has been a lot of noise made about the 75% Christmas Bonus this year and the €2.50 increase in the fuel allowance but these bring cold comfort to families facing into another winter.  The fuel allowance increase will barely buy a bag of kindling with which to light a fire, let a one keep it going for a day.”, said Cllr. Tynan.

For all the talk of fairness this government was able to find €750 million to cut tax for large corporations instead of putting the money into vital services like health and education.   Relying on NAMA and the same speculators who caused the economy to go bust is no solution to the housing crisis and it is notable than 90% of the promised new homes will be in the Greater Dublin area.  Barely a handful of additional social housing units will be built by this government which is a shocking indictment of Fine Gael and the Labour Party”

 “Where is the cancellation of the hospital bed charges introduced over the last few years or in the prescription charges?  For all the talk of job creation this government is once again throwing money at corporations who are more interested in creating profit for themselves than creating jobs.” said Cllr. Tynan

The Workers Party councillor said that the budget was a wolf dressed in sheep’s clothing when it came to fairness. “This budget will merely maintain and indeed widen the gap between rich and poor in this country.  A few crumbs for working class people will not decrease the anger of people at the policies of this government and its Fianna Fáil / Green predecessors who have impoverished families the length and breadth of the country  and who see no light at the end of the tunnel in this budget.”, said Cllr. Tynan.

Budget a recipe for exploitation and pain says Tynan

Workers Party Councillor Ted Tynan has said that Tuesday's Budget is a recipe for exploitation and pain which is completely loaded in favour of the wealthy and contemptuous of the young, the old and the vulnerable.

Cllr. Tynan said that the cuts in the budget were some of the meanest yet and would heap misery on hardship for families and those whose needs were greatest.  He said the 66% increase in  prescription charges for medical card holders, the scrapping of the free telephone allowance for the elderly and of the once-off bereavement grant were amongst the most vicious cuts but he felt that many more hidden cuts would emerge over the next few days.

“This is far from being a jobs budget” said Cllr Tynan, “in fact the budget is devoid of a job creation strategy.  Instead the coalition’s plan is to starve the unemployed and particularly the young into emigrating or taking up underpaid and grossly exploitative work under the worst possible terms and conditions.  In this centenary year of the 1913 Lockout employers are rubbing their hands together with glee at the prospect of cowed workers and a silenced trade union movement”

Councillor Tynan concluded by singling out the Labour Party for a stinging rebuke. “Yesterday the Labour Party threw its own 2011 election manifesto into the bonfire. Gone is the commitment to fairness, gone is their promise of a universal insurance-based health system and gone is their last shred of credibility.  If they have any remaining self-respect then they too should depart the scene sooner rather than later”, said Cllr. Tynan.