Hanafin says Budget protects the vulnerable

Minister for Social and Family Affairs Mary Hanafin insisted this evening that the Government’s Budget protected the most vulnerable in society by increasing social welfare payments in line with inflation.

The changes, announced earlier by Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan, include a rise of €7 a week in the State pension, bringing the State contributory pension to €230.30 a week and the State non-contributory pension to €219 a week.

The personal rate of all working age payments, including both carer's benefit and the carer's allowance, will rise by €6.50 a week where the recipient is 66 and over and by €4.70 or €4.60 per week as appropriate where the qualified adult is aged under 66.

There is also to be an increase in fuel allowance by €2 per week to €20, and the number of weeks covered by the allowance is to be extended by 2 weeks to 32 weeks from April next year.

The earnings threshold for family income supplement is to raised by €10 per child, giving an increase of up to €6 per week per child.

Social welfare recipients with children will also see the qualified child increase raised from €24 to €26 per week.

There will also be an extension in the numbers eligible to claim the back to school clothing and footwear allowance.

But Focus Ireland claimed the Government was failing to live up to its word to protect the most vulnerable in society as the Budget would see Health Service Executive current expenditure cut by 5 per cent and social housing spending cut by 7 per cent.

The agency said: “The HSE is one of the primary funders for homeless services and Focus Ireland has said it's vital the Government ensures the 5 per cent HSE cut does not hit these services and make the most vulnerable pay a heavy price in the Budget.”

Chief executive Joyce Loughnan said: "There are up to 5,000 people homeless in Ireland and the most recent figures show over 43,000 households on social housing waiting lists.

Open, the national network of one-parent families, also claimed the Budget failed to protect those who are most vulnerable from real decreases in their incomes.

The group’s head of policy Camille Loftus said: “The increase of €8.50 per week which more than 88,000 one-parent families will receive means that they won’t be able to beat inflation next year and the inevitable increases in food and fuel prices”.

Labour Party spokeswoman on social and family affairs, Roisin Shortall, criticised the decision to cut the standard entitlement of 15 months unemployment benefit to 12 months where 260 or more PRSI payments have been paid and to nine months where less than 260 contributions are paid, describing it as "disgraceful".

"Amazingly, these cuts have been applied to people who are already on the live register who have effectively been hit with a double whammy. In the first instance, they have had the misfortune of losing their employment in
a recession and have little hope of a quick return to employment. But now they also find they can't even rely on the welfare income they thought they were entitlement to and to which they were contributing for the past
number of years," she said.

Ms Hanafin said: “We are experiencing difficult economic times compared to previous budgets and the Government has made some difficult decisions in order to secure our economic future.

She said: “Increases in rates of payment are broadly in line with inflation and so will maintain the real value of social welfare payments.”

"We have targeted increases to deliver a package of supports for those who are mainly on a fixed income and are some of the most vulnerable across society".

Ms Hanafin said overall spending on social welfare would grow by almost €2.6 billion to over €19.5 billion in 2009