Sinn Féin would deliver for ordinary families in Wicklow - Cllr John Brady

Sinn Féin General Election candidate for Wicklow/East Carlow Cllr John Brady has stated that a Sinn Féin led government would focus on delivering a real break for struggling families in Wicklow.

Councillor Brady said that Sinn Féin would go about bettering the lives of ordinary families by scrapping the Local Property Tax, abolishing water charges and taking 277,000 workers out of the USC bracket.

He said;

"During their time in office, Fine Gael and Labour Party delivered budgets that have ring-fenced the wealth of the most well-off in society. To pay for this they placed a huge burden on average workers and families in Wicklow and East Carlow and they left thousands of people on hospital trolleys. 1,500 children are in emergency accommodation throughout the state.

“In stark contrast, Sinn Féin wants to see a fair recovery for the people of this constituency and we want to ensure it is sustainable. In government, we will introduce a progressive tax system. We will ease the burden on ordinary workers and families, including those who are self-employed, and ask those who earn the most to pay their fair share.

-We will abolish the Local Property Tax, saving 1.8 million homeowners an average of €244 per year.

-We will scrap water charges, saving a family of two adults €260 per year.

-We will remove 277,000 workers from the USC.

-We will ease the tax burden on the self-employed, moving towards the equalisation of the Self-Employed Tax Credit with the PAYE Tax Credit.

"Fine Gael have tried to cook the books with their figures and their local TDs have yet to explain the €2 billion hole in Michael Noonan's plan. In their desperation to cling to power, they are willing to return us to the boom and bust style economics of Fianna Fáil. This is reckless in the extreme and it would lead to the prolonging of the nightmare scenario currently being experienced by families who depend on accessible and robust public services.

"I have no doubt that ordinary families in Wicklow and East Carlow would be far better off under a Sinn Féin led government."

Fine Gael TDs in Wicklow refuse to back ICTU Fair Work Campaign - Cllr John Brady

Sinn Féin General Election candidate for Wicklow/East Carlow Cllr John Brady has strongly criticised the refusal of local Fine Gael TDs Simon Harris and Andrew Doyle to support the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) Charter for Fair Work.

Councillor Brady said;

"The Congress Charter for Fair Conditions at Work sets out five key principles to help make decent work a reality: a Living Wage, Fair Hours of Work, the Right to Union Representation, the Right to Respect in the workplace and Fair Public Procurement.

"It comes as no surprise that both Fine Gael Deputies Simon Harris and Andrew Doyle have decided to give two fingers to ordinary workers looking for fairness and dignity at work. Fine Gael stands out as the political party refusing to support this campaign. It goes against their right-wing views and anti-worker agenda.

"This snub to workers' rights will doubtlessly anger the thousands of trade union members living in Wicklow and East Carlow. These workers need to consider very carefully the move on the part of Fine Gael to ignore the demand for fairness in the workplace.

"Sinn Féin is proud to support the charter and the principles for fairness. We support the work of Congress and, in the recent past, we have stood shoulder to shoulder with home helps and the Dunnes Stores Workers. I can't say that I remember any Fine Gael TDs lending their support to these campaigns or standing on the picket lines in solidarity with workers.

"The refusal of Simon Harris and Andrew Doyle to sign up to the ICTU Campaign for Fair Work demonstrates that ordinary workers in Wicklow cannot afford another five years of a Fine Gael led Government.

Irish Water intensifying “bully-boy tactics” in run up to General Election - Cllr John Brady

Sinn Féin General Election Candidate for Wicklow/East Carlow Cllr John Brady has stated that Irish Water is intensifying its “bully-boy” tactics in an effort to coerce people into paying water charges in the run-up to the General Election.

Councillor Brady said;

“From speaking to people while canvassing in Wicklow, it is clear to me that Irish Water is intensifying its bully-boy tactics in an effort to increase payment rates ahead of the election.

“I spoke to a lady in Carnew yesterday who told me that she had received seven phone calls from Irish Water in the last week demanding payment. She is only one of many people who have shared similar experiences with me while I have been canvassing.

“It seems that there is a concerted effort being made by Irish Water to intimidate struggling families into paying the charges in order to gain some positive PR in the form of increased payment figures. They hope that this will allow the government to say that more and more people are accepting the deeply unfair water policy of Fine Gael and the Labour Party.

“This shameful attempt by Irish Water to construct some glossy publicity spin for their allies in government will backfire. It is bullying and harassment. It is causing severe distress for those who are already struggling to make ends meet.

“I am calling on Irish Water to cease with the persistent intimidation of those who have not paid. It will not be tolerated. The reality is that many people cannot afford these bills and many others are fundamentally opposed to domestic water charges.

“The solution is not to pressure people into paying. The solution, as demanded by the people of this state in protest after protest, is to scrap water charges and abolish Irish Water.

“A Sinn Féin-led government would deliver on these objectives and we have committed to holding a referendum to enshrine public ownership of water services in the constitution.

“These are guarantees that will form part of any programme for government involving Sinn Féin.”

It's time to Disable Inequality-Brady

Sinn Fein candidate for Wicklow East-Carlow Councillor John Brady has launched a stinging attack on Fine Gael and Labour claiming that promises made in the run up to the 2011 general election were nothing more than verbal gadgets invented to trap a demoralised and frustrated electorate:
“Some broken promises cut deeper and sting harder. Persons living with disabilities have been among the hardest groups hit. Over the last five years the government parties have overseen cuts to rent allowance and fuel allowance, disability allowance rates cut for over 18’s, carer’s allowance cut, telephone allowance axed, illness benefit qualifying period raised to 18, invalidity pension cut, medical cards taken off the sick the elderly and the terminally ill, mobility allowance stopped, cuts to respite hours and day care hours, €100 million euros have been cut from the drugs payment reimbursement scheme while prescription charges were introduced and increased. Incredibly, 2 million home help hours have been axed”.

Councillor Brady said the outgoing government are guilty of deceit:
“Fine Gael and Labour will argue that such cuts were necessary in order fight Fianna Fail’s economic attack on the country. But we in Sinn Fein would call on people to simply look at the numbers. In the last of the government’s long list of regressive budgets, the top twenty percent wealthiest citizens were awarded 180 million euro back in tax cuts. A bonanza that even the recipients themselves would argue they simply didn’t need. The truth is that both parties were cynically acting in an effort to protect what they see as their electoral constituency. They were using cash in an effort to try and buy-off voters. This is shameful, when we look at the cuts outlined above, it is impossible to underestimate the difference 180 million euro could have made had it been invested in essential services for those with disabilities.”

Speaking in regard to responsibilities and priorities which should occupy the minds of all political parties and independents, Councillor Brady had this to say:
“We shouldn’t even be having this discussion. One of the greatest responsibilities for any society is to ensure the safety and welfare of all citizens, but particularly those who are in some way disadvantaged, its basic humanitarianism. It should not be a political issue, people with disabilities should not have to wait until economic winds blow in a certain direction, or one particular party gets into power, or one particular individual becomes a dominant advocate. Collective responsibility when it comes to all those who are most vulnerable in our society should straddle the consciousness of every political group regardless of ideology.”

“Quite simply the issue is votes. The numbers of people affected are proportionately small. This means that right-wing parties such as Fine Gael, labour and Fianna Fail are not motivated to provide the services needed. On the other hand, those of us who push for change are accused by TD’s such as Fine Gael’s Simon Harris of ‘populism’. Essentially what Harris and others are really saying is this; giving hundreds of millions in unnecessary tax breaks to high earners is sensible economics, but providing funding for those with disabilities is a waste of resources. In other words - conservative populism is good, progressive accountability is bad.”

Councillor Brady went on to say that Sinn Fein will not make promises it cannot keep. The party has fully costed its options should it be in government and persons with disabilities are at the top of its list of priorities:
“While Fine Gael and Labour advance their plans to cut taxes by 4.5billion to benefit their higher earners, Sinn Fein have a better idea. In government Sinn Fein will increase provision for people with mental health difficulties alongside intellectual and physical disability. The party will increase Personal Assistant hours by an additional 500,000 hours each year. Increase the number of Speech and Language Therapists by 250, Occupational Therapists by 100, Physiotherapists by 100 and psychologists by 150. Increase Respite Care Services by 20%. We will Increase the budget allocation to disability service providers’ year on year and deliver a secure medical card for persons with disabilities. This is not an exhaustive list, but more importantly it is not a populist list. It is nothing more than a responsible commitment to decency, fairness and equality. In 2011 Labour said; ‘every little hurts’, they weren’t joking.”

Brady welcomes Bray Municipal District decision to allow two 1916 commemorative gardens proceed

Wicklow Sinn Féin councillor John Brady has welcomed the decision taken unanimously by the Bray Municipal District councillors to allow two 1916 Glor na Cásca gardens go ahead as part of the centenary commemorations for the 1916 Rising. It was agreed that a garden would go ahead in the Peoples Park in Bray and second will be on the public green space in the centre of Kilmacanogue, adjacent to the old cemetery.

Speaking after the unanimous decision was taken at Tuesday evening councillor Brady said “Over the last year I’ve been pushing the need to commemorate 1916 in a meaningful way in Wicklow, I believe that the Glor na Cásca project is one good way of ensuring that the community can commemorate the 1916 Rising and all those who declared and fought to defend the Republic during Easter week. At Tuesday evenings council meeting in Bray things have thankfully taken a huge leap forward as agreement was finally reached to allow two 1916 community gardens proceed on publicly owned land in the Bray Municipal District.”

“The gardens will consist of a granite proclamation, Tri-colour and flag pole as well as seven trees to represent each of the signatories of the proclamation. One of the gardens will be located in the Peoples Park in Bray and the second one will be in Kilmacanogue. The Bray garden is right across the road from St. Brigid's Tce, where a number of the Bray volunteers who fought in 1916 came from. Ordinary men and women like Steenie Mulvey, Tom Sutton, Desmond Fitzgerald, Bill Forde and Connie O’Brien to name a few who took on an Empire during Easter week 1916. They are true local heroes and are now rightfully going to be remembered for their actions in declaring the Republic 100 years ago and subsequently fighting to defend it.”

Brady went onto say “The second garden in Kilmac promises to be special as the renowned garden designer Diarmuid Gavin who lives in Kilmac is working with the community 1916 committee who are behind the initiative. The key to these gardens success is getting all the community involved, particularly children, I know the committee in Kilmacanogue is working with the school there to ensure that is the case. I want to commend everyone on the Kilmac committee for their hard work. I also want to thank all the relatives of the volunteers and the District Engineer who has worked on my proposal to move ahead with the Glor na Cásca plans and to get it to this stage. I know there are plans for at least 4 more of these gardens across the County and these should be driven by the community also.”

Burning Bondholders – Sinn Fein were Right

Sinn Fein candidate for Wicklow East Carlow Councillor John Brady has said the party’s stance on burning bondholders in the wake of the financial collapse has been shown to have been correct:

“The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) told the Government in March 2011 that €9 billion of the people's money would be saved by imposing losses on senior debt holders at Irish banks. Written evidence provided to the banking inquiry shows the NTMA had advised the government to follow this path, but this advice was inexplicably ignored.”

Councillor Brady went on to say that accusations at the time that his party were ‘economically illiterate’ have now been shown to be nothing more than juvenile taunts with no basis in fact:
“At the time, we pleaded with the government on behalf of citizens to consider burning some of the bondholders to help ward off the worst consequences of the crisis. Fine Gael and Labour ignored us in the same dismissive and arrogant fashion they ignored the NTMA. They sneered at our proposals claiming they were the stuff of fantasy. However, now it has been confirmed that we were correct all along; the government effectively through away 9 billion euro of tax payers money.”

Councillor Brady concluded by pointing out that the Irish people have suffered needlessly due to the stubbornness, arrogance and economic infirmity of this government:

“Nobody needs to be reminded of the suffering so many people have had to endure during the term of this government. Fine Gael and Labour refused to listen to the NTMA or Sinn Fein in order to save face. They could not publicly accept that they were wrong and Sinn Fein was right. As a result, the country is worse off to the tune of nine billion euro. How many homes would that build? How many extra doctors and nurses could we have employed? How many new hospital beds could have been opened and how many new jobs could have been created? If there was ever a reason to get rid of the Fine Gael/ Labour government, this should be enough to convince anyone.”

New recycling charges are final slap in the face by Fine Gael and Labour-Brady

Sinn Féin general election candidate for Wicklow/East Carlow councillor John Brady has said that the signing off on plans by the Environment Minister Alan Kelly to make people start paying for their recycling is the final slap in the face for the electorate by a government that is leaving a trail of new taxes and cuts behind as their legacy. Brady stated that these new charges will lead to less materials being recycled and an increase in illegal dumping.

Councillor Brady said “Forcing people to pay for their recycling is a final slap in the face by Fine Gael and Labour who are leaving behind a legacy of cuts and stealth taxes. Forcing people to pay to recycle their waste will only lead to less material being recycled and an increase in illegal dumping. This story was first carried in the Sunday Business Post, it’s claimed that the new charges are to be implemented by July this year, and will add up to €100 extra on refuse charges for households.”

Brady went onto say “A lot of good work has been done over the recent past to ensure people are recycling as much of their refuse as possible. People recycle to help protect the environment and as a means to keeping their waste bills down. This new stealth tax will reverse that good work and will be counterproductive as it will result in an increase in illegal dumping and less materials getting recycled, ultimately damaging the environment and inflicting additional financial pressures on already hard hit families.”

“Wicklow County Council operates a number of excellent recycling centres across the County and I fear that as a result of these new recycling charges that are being introduced, there will be an attempt to also start charging the public to use these centres. Any attempt will be fought rigorously by the Sinn Féin councillors on Wicklow County Council.”

Cllr Brady concluded by saying “These new charges by Fine Gael and Labour should come as no surprise, as they are leaving behind a legacy of stealth taxes and cuts. There is no recovery for the vast majority of ordinary citizens and this new recycling tax will ensure that ordinary families will continue to struggle for as long as they remain in government. There should be incentives for people to recycle, not taxes. This new tax will be counterproductive and will damage both the environment and ordinary families.”