INTO in NI ballot against four more years of cuts yet SF in south still criticise cost saving measures – O’Reilly

“The INTO in Northern Ireland are balloting their members on proposed cuts to the education budget as Sinn Féin in Government in Northern Ireland has imposed four consecutive years of cuts. Despite this, Sinn Féin hypocrisy in the South continues, with consistent criticism of this Government”, says Joe O’Reilly, Fine Gael TD for Cavan/Monaghan.

“The Department of Education in Northern Ireland has closed 100 schools and imposed 2,500 redundancies; 1,500 non-teaching and 1,000 teaching, in order to reduce spending. Changes introduced will mean larger classes, additional workloads and poorer working environments for teachers.

“All this from the party who in the Republic have said t hat education cuts result in a demoralised profession and an erosion of the goodwill that is so essential to the learning environment in classrooms.

“It is the reality of Government that difficult decisions have to be made and it seems Sinn Féin is learning this lesson first-hand as Education Minister, John O’Dowd must cut his budget by £198m. Despite this Sinn Féin here in the south have done nothing but criticise the Government’s efforts to repair the country’s finances.

“Last week Sinn Féin supported a technical group motion in the Dáil that would abolish the Local Property Tax, Water Charges, and USC for those earning under €35,000 as well as reversing a number of social welfare decisions. In total this would cost an estimated €4.25 billion, the equivalent of a massive 19% tax hike for working people earning over €33,800.

“During the negotiation of the Haddington Road Agreement, Sinn Féin repeatedly objected to reducing public sector pay. They advocated making savings by targeting those at the top through capping hospital consultants pay or imposing a higher levy on pensions to former Ministers and Taoisigh. Sinn Féin also stated that they would make savings through taxation measures.

“None of these steps have been taken in Northern Ireland.”