Government's 'health and housing failures' condemned by Offaly local elections contender

The Government’s “failure to tackle the major crises in housing and health through Budget 2024” had been criticised by Sinn Féin local election candidate in the Tullamore area, Aoife Masterson.
Said Ms Masterson: “This Budget has been a missed opportunity to get to grips with the big crises in housing and health.

“It is shocking that the Government ignored the housing crisis even though they had the money to make a decisive intervention that could have made a real difference.  Instead of taking action, this government has squandered the opportunity to fix the housing crisis,” she added.

Continued the Sinn Fein candidate: “We had a housing crisis before this Budget and we will have a housing crisis after this Budget.  There has been no increase in capital spending, no new targets and no prospect of getting to grips with this crisis.

“This should have been the housing Budget.  That’s what people in Offaly affected by the housing crisis needed to see.”

Ms Masterson said this should have been the budget that used the resources that are available to fix the problems we face.

“They should have increased targets to deliver social and affordable housing. Under a Sinn Féin Government that is the Budget that would have been delivered. “

She continued: “It has also been a missed opportunity to invest in healthcare, to cut waiting times and ensure patients get the high-quality care they need. Sinn Féin would have invested in health to ensure that change is delivered.

“Instead, this is a budget which is bad for our health service, bad for patients, bad for frontline workers. No money for new hospital beds, a derisory allocation for youth mental health services and a fraction of what is needed for disability services.  Their failure to invest means that the crisis in our health service will continue, chronic waiting lists will continue, and overcrowding will continue.”

The Tullamore based candidate claimed the “longer this Government remains in power, the worse things are getting. People in Offaly can’t afford another Budget from this Government. It’s time for change.”