“Why should a nurse be taxed more than a landlord?”
As Budget 2024 was laid out by ministers Paschal Donohoe and Michael McGrath to huge ovations by the coalition government, it wasn’t long before the opposition had their say on this year’s budget. First up was Pearse Doherty of Sinn Féin, who came out swinging immediately after the applause subsided.
Pulling no punches, Doherty first laid into the decision by the government to give financial relief to landlords alongside the renter’s tax credit.
"You simply do not get it." pic.twitter.com/O9SzJgv6Yn
— JOE.ie (@JOEdotie) October 10, 2023
Sinn Féin minister Pearse Doherty rips into Budget 2024 landlord tax relief
As part of the budget announcement this afternoon, Minister McGrath declared a temporary tax relief that will benefit small landlords.
The tax relief means that next year, the first €3,000 of landlords’ rental income will be tax-free. That will increase to €4,000 in 2025, and €5,000 in 2026 and 2027.
However, landlords will only receive these benefits if they commit to staying in the market for four years, otherwise, the tax will be clawed back.
Sinn Féin's finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty has told the Dáil that the Budget has failed to resolve the housing crisis and called it "the Government's greatest failure." #Budget2024 pic.twitter.com/xdhIcj6TlO
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) October 10, 2023
In his speech after the Budget announcement, Doherty said that the country “needed a budget for renters, instead we got a budget for landlords.”
He labelled the landlord tax relief in Budget 2024 as “one of the most stupid policies in recent memory”.
“Fine Gael and Fianna Fail have caused the housing crisis and today’s budget is further confirmation that they are not the ones to fix it. We needed a budget for renters, instead we got a budget for landlords. A Sinn Féin government would have introduced a budget that would have got to grips with the housing crisis.
“The housing crisis is the government’s greatest failure and ending the housing crisis is Sinn Fein’s number one priority.
“Under this government, entire generations of people have been locked out of home ownership. More than two-thirds of young people are forced to live with their parents and more of them are reaching the conclusion that their future is not here but elsewhere.”
Doherty went on to highlight that the housing minister Darragh O’Brien has “missed every single target on affordable housing.”
Once again, Doherty brought up landlords, saying that the current government are “always on the side of the landlords”
“Why should a nurse be taxed more than a landlord?”
Read next – Budget Day 2024: Follow live as Government announce spending plan.
Related articles:
- Budget 2024: Price of cigarettes goes up as Government announces new tax on e-cigarettes
- Budget 2024: Minimum wage, rent tax credit, pensions and cigarette prices all to see increases
- Budget 2024: Minimum wage set to increase as part of spending plan
- Dublin prepares for Budget Day 2023 with extra Gardaí and big barriers
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
