• Resist This Assault On the Poor and Low and Middle Income Earners
• Budget will lengthen dole queues
• Support Major Protest Against Budget on Saturday

In a statement today the People Before Profit Alliance said the budget must be resisted. It represents an unprecedented assault on the living standards of the poor and low and middle-income earners.

Councillor Richard Boyd Barrett said “ This heartless government have shown yet again that it’s determined to punish the poor and those on low and modest incomes for the failures of bankers, developers and the politicians. While major cuts are to imposed on social welfare recipients and low paid public sector workers the super rich have got off scott free. The reduction of child benefit will mean more hardship for hard-pressed families.

The government is taking €425 million off social welfare recipients but only €55m from those benefiting from a range of tax breaks with income over €125,000. Over 180,000 public servants earning less than the average industrial wage will lose 5% of their income.”

The current report is based on audit of all 18 CDPs in counties Cork and Kerry. The rationale for the current research is that decisions which are currently being taken to end the current CDP programme cannot be justified on either economic or social grounds. There is no economic or social benefit to the government or civil society arising from the current plans to shut down CDPs. Those who are work at the coal face within the CDPs know the value of the work involved together with its breadth and extent. They know that the contribution that CDPs make to service provision, employment, education, social care and quality of life in communities all over the country is hugely significant and far outweighs the cost to the state of investing in them, both on economic and social grounds. Focusing solely in economics, CDP managers have known for some time that the loss of employment, services, volunteers and other CDP outputs that would arise from shutting them down would be more than equal to the funding they receive. Even on this narrow economic focus, community workers in the CDPs always suspected that there would be no economic saving to the state if the projects were to be closed.

Government declares war on working people... Unite to fight back
Central Hotel, Exchequer St. 8.pm.

Speakers:

• John Kidd, Dublin fire fighter and 24/7 Alliance.
• Cllr Richard Boyd Barrett, People Before Profit Alliance.
• Cllr Joan Collins, People Before Profit Alliance.

Following the Breakdown in Talks People Before Profit Says:

• Attacks On Workers And Social Welfare Recipients Must Be Resisted

• Widespread Campaign of Opposition Must Be Organised

• Discredited Union Leaders Should Step Aside

Widespread Campaign of Opposition Must Be Organised.

The People Before Profit Alliance this evening called for a campaign of widespread opposition to government plans to cut public services and pay by €4 billion. If the leaders of the trade union movement will not lead such a campaign they should step aside.