Poorest 10% ‘must be front and centre’ in Budget 2015 planning

The poorest 10 per cent in Irish society must be "front and centre" in planning for Budget 2015, according to St , one of 37 organisations taking part in a pre-Budget forum hosted by the Department of Social Protection in Dublin yesterday.

The organisation’s head of social justice and poverty, John-Mark McCafferty, said its pre-budget submission was about “planning the right kind of recovery”.

“What we’re looking for in Budget 2015 is a recommitment to a social investment,” he said, adding that the poorest 10 per cent in society could not bear the brunt of any further cuts.

He said October’s budget must not rely on “job creation at all costs”. “Jobs must be of sufficient quality, number of hours and of a rate at which people can live with dignity.”

Mr McCafferty called for family income supplement to be strengthened and for a social investment package to include the direct provision of childcare and appropriate education and training supports.

“Investment in early childhood care and education . . . and childcare provision could be a game-changer in terms of facilitating people back into the labour market,” he said.

Bricks and mortar

Mr McCafferty also called for action to tackle a lack of affordable housing for lower income families: “Literally the building of bricks and mortar has to take place in order to tackle both the homeless crisis and the social housing crisis,” he said.

National housing charity Threshold called for an increase in current rent supplement caps and that consideration be given to rent controls to safeguard those in the private rental sector.

“From our perspective the priority is that the State introduces measures to enable families (at risk of homelessness) to remain in their homes or to access alternative accommodation,” said Stephen Large, Dublin services manager with Threshold.

“Also, in this time of housing crisis where there’s a huge demand and very little supply, an additional measure which should be taken is to look at controlling the level of rent increases,” he said.

The group called for a new pilot scheme in operation in Dublin – which sees groups including Threshold, Focus Ireland and Dublin Simon intervene and advocate on behalf of tenants to prevent families in private rented accommodation presenting to homeless services – to be extended nationwide.

Risk

Fionnuala McLoughlin of Threshold noted that, in the 2½ weeks since its launch, they had been contacted by 180 families at risk of homelessness.

Joan O’Donnell of the Disability Federation of Ireland (DFI) said it was becoming “ever clearer just how badly the outcomes of previous budgets have left people with disabilities behind”, adding that the organisation was using the event “to make the case for an inclusive society that doesn’t allow this to happen any longer”.

“Cuts to income supports, such as the mobility allowance, housing adaptation grant and the infamous medical card review, and barriers to activation measures . . . have pushed this group into a devastating cycle of poverty and deprivation.”

She called for supplementary income supports such as the household benefits package and domiciliary care allowance to be viewed as part of a person’s basic income and for a €20 increase in the disability allowance.