Organisations campaigning against poverty and unemployment have called on the Government to introduce dramatic welfare, spending and taxation measures to tackle poverty in the forthcoming Budget.
Pointing to the expected Budget surplus of some £1 billion, the Combat Poverty Agency, Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed, Conference of Religious in Ireland and Community Workers' Co-operative said yesterday there was now a great opportunity to tackle poverty and inequality.
Combat Poverty called on the Government to use this year's Budget to tackle the high level of child poverty and homelessness in Ireland. Speaking at a seminar in Dublin yesterday the agency's director, Mr Hugh Frazer, said the potential Budget surplus of over £1 billion gave an ideal opportunity to tackle the serious problems highlighted by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child last January.
"The UN Committee's observations referred to unacceptably high levels of child poverty and homelessness in Ireland as well as the disparity in access to education and health and the disadvantaged situation of children born from unmarried parents. There is no reason why the situation has to stay as it is, particularly at this time of economic wealth and buoyancy."
He outlined a package of measures covering child income support, tax reform, educational programmes, social welfare increases and child care costing almost £1 billion. The Minister for Finance should take a generous stance on these issues in the coming Budget, he said.
In its pre-Budget submission presented at yesterday's seminar, the Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed (INOU) called for an increase of at least £5 in the rate of basic welfare payments. A £4.20 increase is needed to reach the minimum rate committed in Partnership 2000, according to the INOU. But to keep welfare incomes in line with other incomes an increase of at least £5 is required. The INOU is seeking a lowest rate of £73.40 for an adult, with £44.10 for an adult dependant.
The organisation is calling for a minimum increase of £1,000 in the personal tax-free allowance, applicable only at the standard tax rate. This would benefit all taxpayers by £5 per week, it says.
The INOU is also calling for the phasing-in of free medical care for all children to remove a major disincentive to their parents taking up employment. "The single most significant barrier to unemployed parents taking up employment is the fear of being unable to meet the costs of medical care for their children," the organisation says. The unemployed fear they will lose the benefits provided by a medical card if they take up jobs.
The commitment in Partnership 2000 to increase the numbers working in Local Employment Service schemes by 10,000 must be honoured, the INOU says. To date just 2,000 of these 10,000 promised places have been delivered. It also calls for stronger supports for unemployed people attempting to start small businesses.
Father Sean Healy of the Conference of Religious in Ireland said that in its Budget for 1998, the Government had consciously redistributed the benefits of economic growth to the better off. He said that Budget had widened the gap between the poor and the better-off, substantially increased the take home pay of the better-off and reduced the tax payable by employers on their profits.
To reverse this situation in the 1999 Budget, the Government should ensure every person has an income of at least £75 a week, he said. All tax reductions should be targeted at the lower and middle income groups, alternative tax sources should be found in the corporate sector and priority should be given to tackling rural poverty.
Other measures he proposed include a substantial reallocation of health resources towards community care, creating 8,000 additional places on programmes for the long-term unemployed unable to access marketplace jobs and increasing the allocation to Overseas Development Assistance to 0.36 per cent of GNP.
Mr Niall Crowley of the Community Workers' Co-operative also called for a series of specific welfare and social spending measures. He said little progress was being made in implementing the National Anti-Poverty Strategy which was aimed at the 9 to 15 per cent of the population living in persistent poverty.