Tag Archives: Fianna Fail

This morning/afternoon,

Fianna Fáil General Election HQ, Dublin

Fianna Fail Spokesperson on Finance Michael McGrath and Spokesperson on Business, Enterprise & Innovation Robert Troy outline the Party’s proposals to tackle high insurance costs…

Fianna Fáil has pledged to increase penalties for fraudulent insurance claims and to force fraudulent claimants pay the legal expenses for defendants.

The party began the third week of the general election campaign by outlining its plans to tackle insurance costs.

Finance spokesman Michael McGrath said that Fianna Fáil would immediately call a “crisis summit” if it is in the next government and would attempt to introduce legislation to cap payouts. If this is not successful or possible the party says it would call a referendum to allow payouts to be capped.

Hmm.

*cough*

Fianna Fáil promises to clamp down on false insurance claims (Irish Times)

Leah Farrell/Rollingnews

This morning/afternoon.

Smock Alley Theatre, Dublin.

Fianna Fáil Party Leader Micheál Martin launching the Fianna Fáil General Election 2020 manifesto

Among the pledges:

FF would lengthen maternity benefit to 30 weeks and bring in new childcare tax credits.

It would also double child benefit payments for the first month after the birth of a child.

Fianna Fáil also promises to reduce classroom sizes to a class size of 20 to 1 if in the next government.

The party will also reduce income taxes and cut capital gains tax to 25%.

On housing, the party will introduce a first-time buyers top SSIA-type scheme, capped at €10,000, and expand the current help to buy grant measures.

It also promises to build 50,000 affordable homes for prices below €250,000.

FF election manifesto promises €168m homeless fund and doubled child benefit payments (Irish Examiner)

Leah Farrell/RollingNews

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar during their one-to-one General Election 2020 debate hosted by Pat Kenny on Virgin One Media on Tuesday

Watching the “big” debate on Wednesday between Leo Varadkar and Micheál Martin, it’s still very obvious there is no great difference between them.

They have always been “two halves” of a great party.

Let’s not waste time. We are very tired of all this point-scoring, this posturing, and this making of promises that cannot be kept.

This is a time of national crisis.

The best way to “commemorate” the Civil War (whose wounds still fester) is for the two parties to unite and get us back in line with the caring, unselfish spirit of the first Dáil.

John Johnston,
Waterford.

FIGHT!

Televised debate – take us to our leader (Irish Times letters page)

A construction site in Dublin in 2017

Journalist Oonagh Smyth, of RTÉ Investigates, reports:

“Information released to RTÉ Investigates under Freedom of Information indicates that development land, with the potential to provide an estimated 18,500 to 20,700 homes on 359 vacant sites across the country, is simply lying idle.

“In the Dublin City Council area there are an estimated 4,714 housing units that remain unbuilt on sites with development potential.”

…A total of €882,495 in fines was levied by the local authorities last year – 3% of the site values in 2018 – with €640,950 of this levied by Dublin City Council (DCC). Of this, €463,500 was paid by DCC to itself because three of the sites levied were owed by the council.

There was also €1.7m in fines left unpaid across the 22 local authorities attempting to implement the Vacant Site Levy (VSL).

Meanwhile…

In Sinn Féin candidate Eoin Ó Broin’s book Home…

He writes (on page 225)…

“There is also a need to revisit the issue of taxation of land, no matter how political contentious the issue may be. The current vacant site tax is widely seen as ineffective and is urgently in need of review.

“The low number of sites on Local Authority vacant sites registers and the low level of the tax applied – just 3 per cent from 2019 – are clear evidence that it is not designed to do what is required, disincentivise land hoarding and speculative investment.

“In addition to strengthening the powers and ability of councils to place all vacant sites on their register, the tax must be increased to a level that is genuinely punitive.

“Independent Deputy Mick Wallace introduced the Urban Regeneration and Housing (Amendment) Bill 2018 to achieve exactly this objective, hiking the vacant site level to 25 per cent.

“The Bill was opposed by both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.”

FOI documents reveal 359 vacant development sites lying idle (Oonagh Smyth, RTÉ)

Previously: The Big Bang Theory (April, 2018)

This morning.

Carpenterstown Road, Castleknock, Dublin 15.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar with Fine Gael Fingal County Council Councillor Emer Currie joins Castleknock Community College’s ‘diversity group’ as they set out how Fine Gael is ‘prioritising Online Safety’.

RollingNews

Meanwhile…

 

This morning.

Blackpitts, Dublin

Fianna Fail party leader Micheal Martin and Senator Catherine Ardagh with twins, Darragh and Sean McShea, during canvassing of Blackpitts in Dublin.

RollingNews

This morning.

Fianna Fáil General Election HQ, Dublin.

Fianna Fáil spokesperson on Finance Michael McGrath TD (centre), Barry Cowen (right), spokesperson on Public Expenditure and Dublin City Councillor Deirdre Heney (left) at a press briefing on the party’s personal taxation proposals.

To wit:

The party is planning to reduce the 4.5% Universal Social Charge rate to 3.5%.

It is proposing to increase the standard rate of income tax band by €3,000 for an individual, and €6,000 for a couple.

Fianna Fáil’s Michael McGrath said his party would also increase the so-called rainy day fund from €500,000 to €750,000 per year – bringing the fund to €5.2bn by 2025.

Tax cuts and increased spending.

Apart from bitter experience, why the hell not?

Rollingnews

This afternoon.

Fianna Fail Election HQ, Dublin.

Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Housing, Planning & Local Government James Corden Darragh O’Brien TD at the launch of a FF Press Briefing on Housing with Dublin City Councillor Mary Fitzpatrick (top left) and Deputy Spokesperson on Urban Renewal & Housing Pat Casey TD.

Regarding Sinn Féin’s plans to initiate the “largest ever campaign of public housing construction” as part of its own policy, Mr O’Brien said “we have a Sinn Féin party running approximately 40 candidates – if all of them were elected they wouldn’t be in Government”.

“(Sinn Féin housing spokesman) Eoin Ó Broin has the luxury, and he knows himself, to really say what he wants without having the responsibility to deliver,” Mr O’Brien said.

Sinn Féin policies moot as they are only running 40 candidates, FF TD insists (Breakingnews.ie)

 Rollingnews

Last night.

Claire Byrne Live on RTÉ One.

Fianna Fáil Health Spokesman Stephen Donnelly comes unstuck as he claims ownership of the National Health Strategy.

Fight!

Watch in full here

Yesterday: Beds For All

This morning/afternoon.

Fianna Fáil spokesperson on Health, Stephen Donnelly TD with FF Seanad Leader Senator Catherine Ardagh (pic 2) outlines his strategy to save the HSE.

Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews

 

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After Long day needed a fill #AnIrelandForAll

A post shared by Kevin O’Keeffe TD (@okeeffetd) on

Fianna Fáil’s Kevin O’Keeffe, from Mitchelstown, Co Cork, who’s hoping to retain his Cork East Dáil seat, posted photographs of himself standing next to a limousine on Twitter and Instagram in the early hours of Sunday morning.

It followed a Behaviour & Attitudes poll in The Sunday Times showing Fianna Fáil had a 12-point lead on Fine Gael.

However, within hours ,Mr O’Keeffe deleted the picture from his Twitter account after complaints he was “out of touch”. He told Independent.ie:

“It was very negative. I was having a bit of fun I don’t have a limousine.

“I just happened to pull in at a filling station and just for a joke I said: ‘Lads can we put a sticker on the car and take a photo?’ It was shocking they [Twitter users] thought I’d bought a limousine.”

‘It was just for a joke’ – Fianna Fáil TD deletes limousine tweet after Twitter backlash (Hugh O’Connell, Independent.ie)