Fianna Fáil has launched its main economic policy document for the election. It shows how the party proposes to spend up to €72 billion a year of taxpayers' money over the next five years.
The plan envisages that the public finances will remain in surplus throughout the period, that public debt will be reduced to almost zero and that income tax credits and bands will be indexed so that they rise in line with wage increases.
The plan also promises cuts in the top and standard rates of income tax but specifically excludes any reform of stamp duty on second-hand house sales.
The policy document - Protecting Prosperity, The Next Steps Forward - was launched today by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Finance Minister Brian Cowen.
The debt-free achievement depends on a number of economic assumptions, but today the Finance Minister said the party would adjust to whatever economic changes occurred.
The ceiling for PRSI will be removed to address what the party terms an inequality between low and high income earners. Other tax reforms announced at the party's Ard Fheis will cost €840m a year.
