Sir, – The Tánaiste and Minister for Finance has stated, per the national broadcaster, that the budget “will support those who get up early every morning” (“Budget 2027: Jack Chambers plays down expectations of big tax giveaway after Harris comments”, September 8th).
The previous Fine Gael leader was reported in your newspaper on May 20th, 2017, as also wanting to lead the party “for people who get up early in the morning”.
So for over 10 years the leaders of Fine Gael have been talking about people who get up early in the morning.
I doubt if any of the said people who got up early in the last nine years feel looked after. – Yours, etc,
RM Block
ANTAINE O’DUIBHIR,
Ranelagh,
Dublin 6
Sir, – Despite what Tánaiste Simon Harris might believe, as I climb out of bed at 4:45am every Monday and Tuesday morning for my two-and-a-half hour commute each way to and from work, my first thought is never, “I wish the Government would cut taxes so I could have an extra few euro in my pocket each week.”
Instead, as I face into another week of almost 12 hours of commuting, and the associated €70 weekly public transportation costs, I merely want the Government to act to make housing affordable, especially in Dublin.
The Government’s solution, however, seems to be a 15 per cent increase in public transportation fares from next year for working adults like me, combined with zero meaningful action on the price of housing in Dublin.
Promises of supporting “people who get up early every morning and go to work” are meaningless to early-rising workers like me when that support equates to nothing more than a few extra euro in our pockets every week, soon to be lost on increased public transport fares and ongoing inflation in weekly groceries and regular refuse, electricity and heating bills.
The famous political saying may have once been “It’s the economy, stupid”, but in Ireland for the past decade, it’s housing, housing, housing. – Yours, etc,
TOMAS HENEGHAN,
Waterford.
