WHAT’S THE ONE thing that charities and think-tanks would like to see in tomorrow’s Budget that they believe would help the most vulnerable?
From focusing on child poverty or an across the board increase to social welfare – different groups have different hopes for how the Government will divy out its projected surplus of €8.6 billion.
However, all are united in cautioning that some of the major issues facing Ireland – from housing to cost-of-living – are deeply impacting families already teetering on the edge.
According to the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the threshold for being at risk of poverty rate was 10.6% as of last year. For a single adult in 2023, this was €318 per week.
A number of charities highlighted the qualified child increase (IQC) as the area they want to see receive attention foremost.
This is the increase people in receipt of jobseeker’s allowance can get for their social welfare payment for each child dependant in their home. For children under 12, the full rate payable is €46 and for children 12 and over it amounts to €54.
Barnardos, the children’s charity, believes this should be increased by a minimum of €10 for over 12s and €5 for under 12s (Estimated cost of €100 million). Over the longer term, it said the government should benchmark social welfare payments in line with
minimum essential standard of living measurements.
The group’s national policy manager Stephen Moffatt told The Journal that the measure has been neglected in recent budgets but is “crucial” for families on lower incomes and social welfare.
The government has been warned in recent weeks about increases, as the Parliamentary Budget Office warned that greater spending increases could result in an “overheating of the economy”.
In last year’s Budget, the Government increased the weekly rate by €4. This brought it from €42 to €46, for children under 12 years of age. It moved up from €50 to €54 for children aged 12 and over.
A year earlier, in 2022, there was a two euro increase. According to Moffat, this is “nowhere near” close to tracking with inflation. “It was very small and we were disappointed, I think families we support were disappointed,” he added.
“A very modest increase in the last couple years hasn’t kept pace at all with inflation,” Moffat said, calling it one of the best methods for lifting children out of poverty.
For Saint Vincent de Paul, while it wants to see Budget 2025 lift the whole family out of poverty, it said an increase to the QCP by €6 for those under 12 and €15 from 12 years old and up is a crucial measure.
It said that to “turn child poverty from focus into action is one thing Government could do” in the area of targeted supports for the most vulnerable.
This action can take place by ensuring the next Government retains the child poverty unit and create a “dedicated ring-fenced Children’s Budget”, a spokesperson for SVP continued.
It said the child poverty unit under the office of An Taoiseach has been a “vital development in the emphasis on child poverty”, and SVP wants to see this focus turned into action in Budget 2025.
However, think-tank Social Justice Ireland was reserved in its support for targetted measures.
It said there was a need for targetted government support for the most vulnerable, are advocating for a €25 weekly increase in all social welfare rates to “keep pace with inflation”.
Policy director Michelle Murphy said she was concerned that the government may “cherry-pick” small increases for some parts of society, rather than implement a “uniform increase across the board” as Social Justice Ireland are seeking.
She argued that temporary measures like one-off payments “mask the problem” and do not address poverty long-term.
Murphy said there is a risk of “pitting vulnerable groups against each other” by selecting some increases, and contended that the government’s surplus is such that it can afford to spend more.
“They have the money to do it,” she said, “this is the group that don’t save their money, they spend their money on housing costs, on food costs, and on energy costs. If you’re going to address structural inequality and poverty you need to look at it this way because the income gap has widened.”
As usual The Journal will have live updates on developments throughout Budget Day on site and across our social media platforms. We’ll be liveblogging everything as it happens and explaining how the measures will affect your pocket.
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