Sir, – In reaction to financial problems resulting from Covid-19 and related issues, the Government has two schemes to resolve two very different problems.
The first was the introduction of the “Stay and Spend” tax credit scheme to assist the entertainment industry. The Government said that this was a simple scheme which could be introduced without any difficulty. As a result approximately two million adults, whose incomes were too low to pay income tax, were excluded from it. This includes about 900,000 workers, 600,000 pensioners, 147,000 on disability and 273,000 unemployed people. When one takes into account adult dependents, this comes to more than two million adults. With a little more thought and effort, this scheme could have applied to every adult in the country.
Now the Government intends giving €100 to each electricity customer so as to help alleviate the increase in energy prices. The big problem with this scheme is that people who are renters, and where the electricity supply is in the name of the landlord, will not automatically get the benefit of the €100. Therefore this system is not a simple one, which was the reason given for the earlier one. Also, people on extremely high incomes will benefit from it without needing it.
The simplest solution was to aim the support at those in most need of it, people on limited incomes. This could have been done by aiming the supports at people who were already in receipt of the social welfare fuel allowance. That would have been a simple solution.
Governments are supposed to govern in the interests of society as a whole, so why is the Government apparently discriminating against the least advantaged people in our society? Notwithstanding the answer to that, I know which three political parties I will not be voting for in the next general election. – Yours, etc,
BRENDAN O’DONOGHUE,
Castledermot,
Co Kildare.