THE OUTGOING MINISTER for Finance Jack Chambers, and Minister for Public Expenditure, Paschal Donohoe, have come to disagreements on plans for public finances in the next government following their collaboration on Budget 2025. 

Earlier today, Jack Chambers and fellow Fianna Fáil election candidate Dara Calleary unveiled a new policy plan, ‘Backing Businesses’, which would see the establishment of a €300 million Business Support Fund, as well as a €2 billion Towns Investment Fund and additional employers’ PRSI reductions. 

In Tipperary this afternoon, Fine Gael held their manifesto launch. Among a litany of tax cuts, increased spending on public services, and increased benefits, the party outlined its plans to slash taxes by €7 billion over its five years while vastly spending funds on housing, childcare and permanent cost-of-living measures.

The party is also planning to pay €1,000 into an ‘acorn savings account’ for all newborns, and €1,500 for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, to tackle inequality among children. It also told reporters of its plans to change the USC band.

Following the publication of Fine Gael’s manifesto, Chambers said that while he welcomed the “late” publication, it “raised concerns”.

“The manifesto has been published very late, but an initial assessment of their proposals reveals Fine Gael have allocated just €17.2bn to cover existing Levels of Service, public sector pay and contingency. In contrast Fianna Fáil earmarked €20 billion,” he said. “This €2.8 billion gap will directly cost public sector workers.”

Chambers said that this would “effectively amount” to a public sector pay freeze.

He also said that he was concerned over the provision of services allocated to the public sector in his coalition partner’s manifesto, and that it had not allocated any additional funding to the health sector. 

“Fine Gael need to clarify all this for public sector workers and for the public more generally who rely on these essential services,” he said.

Sinn Féin’s health spokesperson David Cullinane also raised concerns over Fine Gael’s health policies outlined in the manifesto.

“Fine Gael manifesto for Health lacks new ideas or proper costings. The total funding that Fine Gael are committing for the health service would not even open all of the hospital beds which they are promising, nevermind everything else they have slapped together with little thought,” he said.

Cullinane added that Fine Gael had promised free GP care for all children in the previous election in 2020. In the run-up to the 2020 election, Fine Gael had set out its plans to introduced free GP care for children under the age of 16. Currently, free GP visits are available for those under the age of eight.

“They never delivered it. Now they are promising free GP care for all children, again. This manifesto is more a list of things that Fine Gael has failed to do than a list of things they will do.”

Fine Gael response

In a statement released this evening, Donohoe said that the cost of a future public sector pay deal “has indeed been included in Fine Gael’s manifesto costings.”

“Ensuring that we are providing for our public servants and the great work they do is an essential element to any budget or manifesto I am involved in crafting,” Donohoe said. “As is usually the case, that number is captured alongside other amounts to ensure that any future negation is not undermined.