Factbox-Irish general election 2024: What’s in the party manifestos?

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DUBLIN (Reuters) – Irish political parties vying to lead the next government after a national election on Nov. 29 have published their manifestos, setting out their policies and how they will finance them.

Polls suggest two of the three main parties – Prime Minister Simon Harris’ centre-right Fine Gael, its centre-right main coalition partner Fianna Fail and left-wing opposition Sinn Fein – will need to join efforts to form a coalition government. Fine Gael and Fianna Fail have both pledged to govern again without Sinn Fein, complicating the latter’s route to power.

Following are the policy positions of the main parties:

PUBLIC FINANCES

Fine Gael: Cap day-to-day spending growth at 5% a year to facilitate higher capital spending and total expenditure growth of 5.9%-7% a year. Transfer 0.8% of GDP annually to Ireland’s sovereign wealth fund and 2 billion euros to a separate climate and infrastructure fund, adding up to 34 billion euros by 2030. 

Fianna Fail: Gradually reduce the rate of annual spending growth from 6.6% in 2026 to 5.5% by 2030, with no cap on day-to-day spending. Transfer the same amount as Fine Gael to the two wealth funds. 

Sinn Fein: Increase current and particularly capital expenditure by more than the other two parties to leave 15 billion euros to invest in the wealth funds.

TAXATION

Fine Gael: Cut income tax by increasing entry points for higher and lower income workers. Cut the VAT rate for food business to 11% from 13%.  

Fianna Fail: Cut income tax in the same manner as Fine Gael. Maintain a reduced VAT rate on gas and electricity bills.

Sinn Fein: Abolish a portion of income tax – the universal social charge – for the first 45,000 euros ($47,115)of a person’s income, introduce a 3% tax – on top of the current 40% rate – on individual incomes above 140,000 euros, and abolish a property tax levied on homeowners. Cut VAT for parts of the hospitality sector to 9%. 

HOUSING

Fine Gael: Increase a tax rebate for first-time buyers of new homes and extend a government-supported shared equity scheme to qualified buyers of all homes, not just newly built ones. Maintain rent pressure zones that currently cap annual rent increase at a maximum of 2% and increase the amount renters can claim back through tax credits. 

Fianna Fail: Also extend the equity scheme to all homes too and factor in rental payments in assessing payment levels under the help-to-buy rebate scheme. Review the effectiveness of rent pressure zones and increase rent tax credits.

Sinn Fein: Scrap or phase out the schemes that top up first time buyers, launch a policy that would allow the state to retain ownership of the land a home is built on and ramp up the role of local authorities in building housing. Ban rent increases for three years.

IMMIGRATION

Fine Gael: Introduce legally binding time frames for asylum applications, boost border security, establish a dedicated division of the High Court to handle all immigration cases and restrict the movement of applicants in state accommodation. 

Fianna Fail: Shift responsibility for immigration to a new government department of domestic affairs in a bid to expedite processing. Reduce state support to asylum seekers to EU-wide levels and charter deportation flights when necessary. 

Sinn Fein: Set up a new immigration management agency to allow for faster decisions and greater follow-up on deportation orders. Audit local services before locating new accommodation centres for asylum seekers, with the aim of ensuring they are not placed in working-class communities already under pressure.

IRELAND’S 14-BILLION-EURO APPLE BACK-TAX BILL

Fine Gael: Use the windfall to accelerate new housing delivery, improve the energy grid, upgrade water supply and boost transport links. 

Fianna Fail: Split evenly between housing, water, energy and transport projects, as well as a 2-billion-euro project to digitise healthcare records.

Sinn Fein: Deploy half of the proceeds on new public housing with the rest split between renewable energy projects, increasing healthcare capacity, funding redress schemes for defective housing and investing in disadvantaged areas.

UNITED IRELAND

Fine Gael: Build upon the Shared Island initiative – a project set up in 2021 to invest in cross-border projects with Britain’s province of Northern Ireland and deepen North-South cooperation. 

Fianna Fail: Engage with other parties on how potential proposals concerning future Irish unity could be developed and invest another 1 billion euros in cross-border projects.

Sinn Fein: Push Britain to hold a referendum on unity with Northern Ireland by 2030, appoint a government reunification minister, begin unity planning by both a parliamentary committee and a citizens’ assembly, and a “diplomatic offensive” to promote the goal at the United Nations and across the European Union.

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