Sinn Féin Launch Proposal To 'Give Women And Families A Break'

Sinn Féin have launched a new proposal aimed at giving "women and their families a break".

Launching the document, Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald, said: "Ireland has undergone significant social and economic change over the last two decades. Much of this change has been positive, yet inequality is deepening, and families are paying an enduring cost.

"Family homelessness continues to rise; a full-time job no longer guarantees an affordable secure roof over your family's head and people with a disability face inequalities day and daily.

"Each year Sinn Féin sets out ambitious deliverables in our alternative budgets that can and will make immediate differences in people's lives. Our measures are costed by the Departments of Finance and Public Expenditure and our economic analysis is one that places investment centre stage. Sinn Féin's proposals for women and their families include;

• Comprehensive women's health strategy

• A state-sponsored contraception scheme to include LARCs

• Back to School Bonus Child Benefit Payment for all families

• Reform of childcare provision to reduce costs to parents & ensure workers are properly paid

• A Child Maintenance Service

• Independent statutory multiagency domestic homicide reviews

"For government the annual budgetary process provides an opportunity to begin or progress policies that can deliver transformative change over the longer term.

"Budgets are about today, but they are also about next year and the year after. Sinn Féin's alternative Budget 2020 document deals with the threat posed by Brexit; sets out a sustainable fiscal strategy; commits to a just transition; invests in public services; introduces new structures to support and protect women and give women a break in the here and now.

"Sinn Féin's proposals give an insight into what a Sinn Féin Government would look like. Women and their families will continue to be a priority for Sinn Féin when shaping policy and making political decisions."

(MH/JG)