Sinn Féin’s €16bn heist would rob our country’s ‘piggy bank’ and our children’s futures – Donohoe & Burke

Fine Gael Ministers Paschal Donohoe and Peter Burke have today (Wednesday) called on Sinn Féin to commit to retaining the €16bn that has been built up by the Irish Government, and its people, in the Future Ireland Fund and the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund.

The establishment of the fund was designed to create a safety net for the Irish people in the event that future economic shocks occur.

Sinn Féin is intent on committing the biggest heist ever on the island of Ireland by raiding the carefully saved ‘piggy bank’ funds, throwing caution to the wind and the Irish people to the depths of uncertainty in the years ahead.

Minister Paschal Donohoe has called on Pearse Doherty to debate him on his Party’s plans to provide for the Irish people and to ensure the hard work of every taxpayer is not erased by Sinn Féin’s plans to spend, spend, spend.

Minister Donohoe said: “If the last number of years has taught us anything it is that economic shocks of epic proportions can hit us at any time. Brexit, soaring inflation and a global pandemic all threatened to pull the rug out from under us without much warning. It is thanks to the prudent approach adopted by Fine Gael in Government that we were able to steady the ship, provide for our people when it was needed most, get our businesses back open and our people back to work without delay, safe-guarding people’s incomes.”

Minister Burke said: “Fine Gael has carefully built up funds for the future that now total €16bn. We have done this by running surpluses and putting some money aside each year. We will continue with that approach and have plans in place for these funds to reach over €40bn by the end of the decade. This is part of Fine Gael’s core belief that our children should never face the type of austerity that we remember so well and is our steadfast way to ensure that that is the case.

“Sinn Féin’s 11th hour conversion to the concept of running a surplus is to be welcomed. Their lack of ambition in this regard, however, is staggering with a commitment to run as little as €1bn some years. To put this in context, this Government has run surpluses of around €8bn over the last number of years. The Sinn Féin manifesto is the biggest heist on this country. In simple terms, they are robbing the country’s piggy bank, and our children’s futures.”

Minister Donohoe continued: “On top of spending almost every cent we have, Sinn Féin would raise your taxes, plunder your inheritance, threaten job creation, and narrow our tax bases, undermining the very foundations of our economic success at a time when a Transatlantic trade war looms. This is very serious and cannot go unchecked.

“We have been here before, where spending got out of control and put us on our knees when times got tough. We are not going back there. I am calling on Pearse Doherty to put this proposition to the Irish people by debating me on our economic choices. The decisions taken by Fine Gael over the last 14 years have seen our economy being dragged-up off the floor and resuscitated, to the point now that we are an outlier and the envy of our partners right across the European Union. Sinn Féin would have us back on our knees in no time, bankrupting the State and taking our children’s futures with it,” Minister Donohoe.