Shortall lists 'Treacherous Thirty' cuts, charges and stealth taxes
Issued : Wednesday 15 October, 2008
Statement by Roisin Shortall TD
Minister of State, Department of Health with responsibility for Primary Care
The Labour Party has identified 30 new charges, stealth taxes, cuts and reductions in services that were included in Tuesday's budget.
Many of these cuts were hidden away in the small print of the budget but the full list of the 'Treacherous Thirty' (attached) gives an indication of the extent to which middle and lower income families will be hit by these provisions.
Some of the financial measures will be severe: for instance a family with two children at third level will need to find an extra €1200 in student registration fees, on top of the 1% tax and higher medical expenses. The net result of these will be to leave many families significantly worse off than they were before the budget.
For instance, single parent will receive an increase of €6.50 in their weekly payment. But if the single mother is in receipt of rent supplement - as many would be - under other budget provisions the parent will have to contribute €5 more, leaving a net increase of just €1.50. If the single parent is working part time, he or she will now also be subject to the new 1% tax leaving him or her significantly worse off.
We were told that this would be a budget to protect the vulnerable. The reality is quite different as this list shows.
THE TREACHEROUS THIRTY
1. Tax Levy of 1% on all income
2. Automatic entitlement to a medical card to end for over 70s.
3. €200 extra for parking at work
4. Tax relief on Medical Expenses to be limited to standard rate only
5. A&E charges up from €66 to €100
6. Minimum threshold for Drug Payment Scheme up by €10 to €100 per month
7. VAT increase from 21% to 21.5%
8. Car Tax up 4% on cars up to 2.5l and 5% over that
9. Excise Duties on Petrol up 8c per litre
10. 66% increase in stamp duty on cheques
11. Child Benefit scrapped for over 18's
12. Jobseeker's Benefit cut from 12 months to 9 months (with less than 260 contributions)
13. Jobseeker's Benefit cut from 15 months to 12 months (with 260 or more contributions)
14. Social Welfare contributions for Jobseeker's Benefit to increase from 52 to 104
15. Minimum contribution a recipient must make to Rent Supplement to increase by €5 to €18 per week .
16. Minimum contribution a recipient must make to Mortgage Interest Supplement to increase by €5 to €18 per week
17. Qualifying age for Disability Allowance to be raised from 16 yrs to 18 yrs for new claimants
18. Duration of Illness Benefit scheme to be limited to 2 years
19. Contributions needed to qualify for Illness Benefit to increase from 52 to 104
20. Social Welfare contributions needed to qualify for Health & Safety Benefit, to increase from 52 to 104
21. Hospital in-charges up from €66 to €75
22. Long-Stay Charges up by €31.44 a week for Class 1 and by €23.58 a week for Class 2
23. Student service charges increased from just over €900 to €1,500
24. Post-primary school transport charges up to €300 annually
25. Travel Tax of €10
26. Mortgage Interest Relief for non first-time buyers reduced from 20% to 15%
27. DIRT Tax up by 3%
28. Earnings ceiling for PRSI to increase by from €50,700 to €52,000
29. 20% increase in private and semi-private bed charges in public hospitals
30. Early Childcare supplement scrapped for children over 5.5 yrs.
