BREE CALLS FOR TRANSFER OF LEFT INDEPENDENT VOTES

 Independent candidate Declan Bree, has called on voters who want to see the cuts in wages, public services and social welfare reversed, to vote for the Independent candidates opposed to the cutbacks.

“The reality is that all the mainstream parties are committed to making ordinary people pay for this crisis.   People who vote number one Independent can give their second, third and fourth preferences to the other Independent candidates thereby maximising the Independent vote.” he said

Cllr Bree, criticised Fine Gael and Labour for failing to support the reversal of the Universal Social Charge. 

“The Universal Social Charge has got to be scrapped, for both moral and economic reasons.” said Cllr Bree.   “There can be no justification for ordinary people, many of whom are already struggling, to pay for the private debts of bankers and speculators.  In the boom times their profits remained in private hands and therefore so should their debts.   Irish taxpayers should not have to pay for their speculative gambling.”

 “The fact is that the Universal Social Charge specifically targets low and middle-income earners as those who will have to pay for these private debts.   People with an income of over €250,000 are actually much better off under this arrangement, as now they only have to pay a 7% rate when they previously had to pay 11%.   It is utterly disgraceful that people earning such huge amounts of money are now better off after the budget, while people earning as little as €77 a week are being punished.” Cllr Bree said.

 “Labour and Fine Gael are supposed to be the opposition parties, but they will not reverse the Universal Social Charge nor will they reverse the cuts in Social Welfare.   They are effectively pursuing the same policies as Fianna Fail.  

 It is obscene that under Fine Gael and Labour, just like Fianna Fail, people earning just €16,000 a year will be paying the same Universal Social Charge rate as Irish millionaires. Not only that, but the charge is fiscally neutral, meaning that the country will not save a single cent by the implementation of the Universal Social Charge.   It is simply a means of placing the burden of debt for our economic crisis not on those who caused the crisis, but on hardworking people in middle-income brackets and the most vulnerable in society.” said Cllr Bree.