Farren: NI Needs Targeted Budget Measures

SDLP Trade and Enterprise Spokesperson Sean Farren MLA said the fiscal policy needed by the economy of Northern Ireland cannot be a trickle-down version of the Treasury’s overall policies.

He said: “There are well-thought out measures in Gordon Brown’s budget which any sensible person must welcome. Differential car tax which rewards environmentally friendly vehicles and punishes polluters is long overdue. Increasing tax credits for innovation, research and development is a sound policy which can only push us in the right direction.

“But the striking thing about this budget, like its predecessors, is how little immediate impact it has on our economy here. We have a massive and dangerous dependency on public-sector spending and we need bold, innovative fiscal measures to help break us out of it.

“We share a land frontier with one of the most successful economies in the world, and without deep, pro-active cross-border co-operation, that border disrupts and distorts our own economy. To take just one example, economic decisions are being made every day because duty on diesel oil is so much higher in the north than in the south. Diesel smuggling and laundering are supporting a whole criminal sub-class which is further damaging both economy and society.

“There is one relatively simple fiscal measure which has the capacity to transform our economic potential.  If we had the same rate of corporation tax as the Republic, we could compete on a level playing field and become part of the Celtic Tiger. It is time for the Treasury to face up to this challenge and consider making it the centrepiece of a range of fiscal measures targeted on the economic needs of Northern Ireland.”