Labour Leader Brendan Howlin said Fine Gael's promise to spend an extra €11bn out to 2025 “lacks ambition,” saying the country can afford to spend an extra €17.5bn. Speaking at the defunct Irish Glass Bottle site in Ringsend in Dublin alongside candidate Kevin Humphries, Mr Howlin said tax cuts should be set aside in order to deliver quality public services. Responding to questions from the Irish Examiner, Mr Howlin said: “Fine Gael are saying that they would spend somewhere between €1.5bn and €2.5bn between taxes, tax cuts and expenditure per year. We will be saying that we can afford to spend somewhere between €2.9 and €3.4bn a year. We can't afford tax cuts as Fine Gael are promising.

Source: Irish Examiner January 15, 2020 19:07 UTC