Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
FIANNA FÁIL SAYS it will not accept a major delay in an increase to the state pension, which is to be promised as part of Budget 2017.
It’s understood the government has been considering delaying the increase by several months so that it doesn’t kick in until mid-2017.
The government thinking behind postponing the rise is to allow other possible increases to be given to those on social welfare, such as disabled people, carers, blind people and widows.
However, Fianna Fáil Finance spokesperson Michael McGrath and Fianna Fáil’s Dara Calleary said today that a six-month delay was “out of order”.
McGrath said Fine Gael is doing a Budget for 2017, “not half of 2017″.
“Starting in June or July does not seem to be credible or realistic to us,” he said.
“We won’t be rolled over”
When asked to clarify if the six-month lead-in was not a runner, Calleary said “absolutely”. He said he will be flexible so that benefits can spread to everyone.
“But we have priorities and we won’t be rolled over on them,” he added.
A government source said delaying the increase ”is about fairness and social justice”.
Nobody should be left behind. As Leo [Varadkar] highlighted in the Dail, the aim is to give carers, disabled, blind, and widows the same increase as pensioners. These groups had their payments cut by €16 a week by Fianna Fáil and have had no restoration. The only way we can possibly afford this is to defer the payments until after January.
Despite McGrath stating that negotiations with Fine Gael so far have been “business-like”, there appears to be some tensions mounting between the two parties.
“Some in Fine Gael have had a Damascus-like conversion to caring in recent days… I don’t buy this,” said Calleary.
Advertisement
“Leo likes to make you think he is all cuddly”
He didn’t hold back there. It was put to him that the €5 increase in the pension (which was Fianna Fáil’s Budget demand) is stopping Social Protection minister Leo Varadkar from increasing other social welfare payments.
Calleary was asked what he would do if he were in Varadkar’s position.
I certainly would never go down a route Leo is going down. Leo likes to make you think he is all cuddly and caring and that he suddenly walked into a phone box and walked out with a cape of fairness – that’s not Leo. The Fine Gael way for doing things was deleted on the 26 February.
The Fine Gael way is taking medical cards off families that need them and that is a position he stood by while a minister and minister for health… I am not convinced by the sudden caring, sharing, cuddly Leo Varadkar.
He said Fianna Fáil are of the view that there is considerable old age poverty and that is why they are seeking an increase – one which McGrath said has not happened in over eight years.
McGrath said his party’s stamp is all over Budget 2017, claiming a number of key items would not be included if it weren’t for Fianna Fáil.
“We helped shape the it,” said McGrath, who went on to say his party argued for the pension hike, changes in the inheritance tax so that it benefits children as well as near relatives, the provision of a home care tax credit and no increase on excise for fuel.
Extra money
However, all is not well in the partnership agreement between the two parties.
McGrath said the party was told for the last number of weeks there was only €1 billion to be spent. However, late last night it heard an extra €200 million had been found.
“The Budget parameters are changing late in the day,” he said.
When asked by TheJournal.ie if the party felt underappreciated by government for not informing them of the extra fiscal space, McGrath said:
I am not making any accusations to the government… but it seems this is the way it works, very late in the day, when all the numbers are joined up, something falls out and others move in. There are moving parts, eventually they arrive at a final figure.
…Reassurances had been given and repeated constantly, publicly, that the space was a billion, that was locked in, that it wouldn’t change – that appears to be not quite the case. From our point of view, it just means, we have to be careful.
He said being left in the dark, in some respects, created a difficulty for the party.
“If you are working to €1 billion and then all of a sudden it’s more than you have to recast your priorities,” he said.
Despite the breakdown in communication, he said:
We are going to honour our side – the alternative is another general election.
However, while McGrath said Fianna Fáil are willing to support this Budget, it won’t do it “at all costs” and the party won’t “sleep walk” into it either.
The party also has concerns about Fine Gael’s much-publicised first-time buyers grant. McGrath said he would prefer to see a full assessment of its impact, but concluded:
“It is not something we will be bringing the government down on.”
Separately, Labour has criticised Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael for playing games on the pension increase.
“Any move to bring the increase back to March or April would mean a real increase of only €2.50 a week in 2017,” said Labour senator Kevin Humphreys.
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
Leo trying to make us think he’s cuddly and caring.
FF trying to make us think they’re powerless in gov.
Kenny trying to make us think he’s the big man in europe.
Noonan trying to make us think he’s the financial whizz.
FF and FG trying to make us think this budget is make or break and could bring down the gov, but none of them want an election now so that won’t happen.
FF and FG trying to make us believe we’ve got new politics but its the same bunch of useless morons we’ve got.
FF and FG trying to make us think there’d be massive instability if they weren’t around.
I agree with all them points Adrian but in fairness to Noonan…..he isnt doing a bad job at all.He’s turned the screw for the economy after the can of worms he was dealt…….and this is when everyone can see he isn’t a well man at all in terms of health.In my eyes he’s the only guy up there that has done his job properly
@Irin Flynn: Have you been in a coma for the last while or maybe in outer Mongolia with no internet access? You obviously haven’t heard of Noonan, Nama and Project Eagle
@Anne Marie Devlin: I tried to add a little more to that, but it’s not allowed. Why you can’t tell the truth about politicians and their record is beyond me.
@Tony….that ‘soundbite’ sounds very like pre-electioneering to me! Nothing more, nothing less. Let them give back their €6000 rise and put that into restoring some sense of fairness to those on disability and carers pensions. But we will never see that because not one of them could give a continental.
You would think these two parties give a fiddlers about the old ,sick , elderly, disabled. Where were they last year when disabled people had to protest outside the dail after suffering cuts for years to services etc. Funny enough it was almost the same amount that they gave out in the water bribe. As the bribe was hitting people’s banks accounts, the disabled were outsude dail eireann having a protest. Talking about the elderly over a measly €5 increase after they gave themselves over €6000 payrise. They are shameful. Everything is just throw a few crumbs to shut people up.
@Michael Gerard Hayes: Absolutely Michael but Calleary was right on the money with the quote below. It’s about time somebody came straight out and said it. Varadkar is not to be trusted but sadly he has plenty of people fooled.
“The Fine Gael way is taking medical cards off families that need them and that is a position he stood by while a minister and minister for health… I am not convinced by the sudden caring, sharing, cuddly Leo Varadkar.”
Yeah yeah politicians left or right are all in it for themselves there are no st Vincent de Paul’s in Leinster house and all this left and right wing is really a choice between who will mess up our lives more or less.
Nothing to do polls. Everything to do with FF mobilising the grey vote in their favour in the next election. The elderly are more inclined to vote than carers or the disabled I bet.
@Brent Weaver: Correct Brent. FFs main focus is to look after the demographic most likely to vote, followed by months of shaking hands at funerals, followed promptly by an election.
Leo might be all sweetness and light and can do no wrong in the eyes of the LBTG community but strip away the cuddly TV persona and underneath there’s a nasty neo liberal Thatcherite who believes that privatization is the answer to all society’s ills.
If Leo ever becomes the leader of Fine Tory, and there’s a strong likelihood given he’s the darling of the Irish liberal press, then we’ll edge ever closer to an American style capitalist society where it’s every man for himself, dogs eat dogs and no sucker will ever be given an even break.
Public Beware.
They have us fighting over the left over crumbs that the eu allow us to divide amongst ourselves. It’s actually our money all the fighting is over. We’d see that if we all went on strike as a nation for a week and expose them as the emperors with no cloths on. It’s up to us to change the place as you can be certain they won’t.
I guess that they have done themselves well Tommy. Created a place where there’s no alternative. I remember fianna fail in power saying the same thing. That there was no alternative to their policy’s. Better to stay with the crap we know I suppose. I take my hat off to the ladies in Poland last week. If we all went on strike for a week the house of cards would fall down.
We are left in a terrible situation Aoife, can’t trust any political party, current elected politicians are all self serving to better their party and themselves. Would wonder why people would bother voting at all…
Isn’t that what they tend to do. To paraphrase pat the oily whale rabbitte. It’s the politics of fear in action, keep the electorate scared of change, catastrophe is only around the corner after all. Just keep working till you drop.
At the end of the day old people carers really the people who built and continue to care for our elderly are getting a fiver while our ministers and elected officials get an increase of between 6 and 12k a year. Blood disgraceful Leo and Michael McGrath!!
FF have backed down on Irish Water they have backed down on removing Kenny if they back down on this their credibility is gone. Is it any wonder they are loosing support.
Never forget FF self serving wasters bankrupted this country … they are up to their same old tricks e5 for pensioners … ohh … yeah that’s really important …. no real leadership … not prepared to make them real decisions the tough calls .. . Same oul FF …. never forget
Its interesting to wonder why the situation from 2008 onwards led to the formation of mass movements in other countries but nothing similar in Ireland. Why? Genuine question.
When Kenny was elected as Taoiseach the first thing he did was had power over to Noonan under the guise that he was getting assistance from Gilmore Burton. Clearly not fit for the job.
FF Taoiseach, Cowan was reported to have an addiction problem which he displayed on Radio and tried to bat away on Late Late. Did he have ” a couple of pints” the day and night of bank guarantee? And other days?
Ahern was flat to the boards in front of a tribunal telling unbelievable stories about horses, houses, bank accounts etc.
Burton said it was the happiest day of his life when Prince Charles came to Ireland.
Is there any wonder why the country is in the mess it’s in.
Reynolds/Major started the peace process in the North. Othess like Blair and Ahern hijacked it.
@alphanautica: Chronic defenders of establishment political parties, whose only interest is corporations and banks, mired in corruption and greed, whinge like fk about the spin and lies not being believed.
The independents have had their chance, they won’t get another.
@alphanautica: I joined the party I admired, has a few problems with its “Only ppl like us” attitude and I got thrown out. Parties DON’T WANT to change and make really sure the only ppl who succeed are the one’s who will fight tooth and nail to make sure as little as possible change(especially for ppl not like them, unless its a negative change). My conclusion is ….. tackle candidates on the door step/email or fb them your needs/wants, vote for those who do their jobs, vote strategically and most of all VOTE every time.
I actually met him today and shuck his hand. He looks ‘cuddly’ and he looks so young in person. He is caring because he cares about the struggling workers in this country, the squeezed middle. Others seem to just care about the voting pensioners.
If FF are so worried about being included in all budget negotiations and calculations, why didn’t they form a coalition from day one. This joke of an arrangement is doing FG no favours, FF take the credit for any favourable moves and FG get blamed for anything the masses don’t like.
Donald Trump reportedly planning on removing Elon Musk from inner circle as rift emerges
44 mins ago
7.5k
34
RIP
'An uber-creative firecracker': Tributes as film star Val Kilmer dies aged 65
14 hrs ago
44.4k
31
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 161 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 110 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 143 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 113 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 83 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 83 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 39 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 35 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 134 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 61 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 74 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 83 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 37 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 46 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 27 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 92 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 99 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 72 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 53 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 88 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 69 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say