REACTION:PEOPLE IN receipt of social welfare and lower pay will experience serious difficulties as a result of the Budget, the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul warned.
The charity said the Budget was a purely economic exercise with little concern for social matters. “The impact on people on social welfare and low pay is much greater than on higher earners and will only lead to increased poverty,” it said.
The society said it was unconvinced that the poorest and most vulnerable in society had been adequately protected. It was bracing itself for a surge in calls from concerned clients.
The National Women’s Council of Ireland said the Budget was bad for women, children and the economy. It said many low-paid women would be forced to decide if they could afford to stay in the workforce because of changes announced by the Minister for Finance.
“It is a cod to say that those on the reduced minimum wage will be kept out of the tax net,” the council said.
“Over 60 per cent of those on the minimum wage are women, so they will bear the brunt of a further cut which will have no impact on overall competitiveness or unemployment.”
The council said reducing child benefit would mean many families might struggle to cover childcare costs. It said that almost 100,000 here already lived in poverty and that the “shameful figure will rise because there is no protective measure for those on low incomes or welfare”.
Children’s charity Barnardos said the Budget clearly demonstrated the “ongoing indifference” of the Government to the plight of those struggling to survive.
“The Government’s own statistics tell us that children are already struggling with poverty and disadvantage,” Barnardos chief executive Fergus Finlay said.
“How many more have to join their ranks before their voices are heard and they become a political priority?”
Homeless charity Focus Ireland said cuts across welfare payments and funding for services and housing would increase the hardship experienced by many thousands of the most vulnerable families and single people in society.
It said social welfare cuts would force more people on to the streets and penalise those who were already homeless.
Age Action welcomed the decision not to cut the old age pension but said older people would be hit by other cuts.
It said widows aged under 66, those on invalidity pension and carers would all be hit by the Budget measures.
