The Conference of Religious of Ireland (CORI) Justice Commission has called on the Government to increase social welfare payments by at least €12 a week in December's budget.
Published today, CORI's Budget Choicesreviews the current social and economic context and says Budget 2004 should increase the social welfare payment by €12 a week for single people and €20 a week for couples.
In the document, which addresses the Government's budgetary choices, the group says although many good things have happened to the Irish economy in recent years, the budget should give priority to tackling the widening rich/poor gap and the deficits in Ireland's infrastructure and social provision.
CORI says the budget should "produce a significant decrease in social exclusion and ensure that Ireland collects a fairer level taxation than is currently the situation".
CORI Justice Commission is a Social Partner and is one of the organisations that negotiated and signed the last three national agreements. It represents more than 135 religious congregations with 11,000 members in 1,400 communities throughout Ireland.
The full text of this policy briefing can be viewed on www.cori.ie/justice in both pdf and html formats.
